American University’s chapter of Amnesty International won the 2026 “Leading Change! Student Group of Year Award” in March, an accolade for student groups whose work and dedication have furthered Amnesty International USA’s mission.
The award was created in 2019 by the AIUSA Youth Collective to recognize student chapters that demonstrate exceptional commitment to the fight for human rights.
Under the leadership of former president Steven Mendell, Amnesty AU’s work focused on groups and issues that are underrepresented in the media, such as the Uyghur Muslims in China and human rights issues in Myanmar.
Mendell, a junior in the School of Public Affairs, said he is most passionate about human rights issues that he doesn’t often see prioritized by mainstream advocacy, so he built the chapter around that passion.
“I think human rights advocacy, in general, tends to focus on whatever is in the news, top of mind,” Mendell said. “But my own personal mission has been to do more events that should be priorities that aren’t spoken [about] enough.”
Mendell said, last spring, Amnesty AU placed empty chairs on the quad to represent Uyghur people who were missing or killed to spread awareness for the issue. The chapter also recently hosted a film screening on human rights violations in Myanmar and an educational table on Sudan.
Mendell founded his high school’s chapter of Amnesty International during his junior year of high school and restarted the University’s chapter his freshman year after it became inactive around the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Katie Davos, the youth and student program manager for AIUSA, has worked with Mendell during both his time in high school and at the University. Davos said she has always seen his dedication to Amnesty’s mission which is why she’s not surprised that he’s led Amnesty AU to such success.
“He really is driven behind this work and knows how to be proactive and execute his vision with the team that’s behind him,” Davos said.
Davos said there are over 400 youth chapters of AIUSA, but what stuck out to her about Amnesty AU’s work was their relentlessness and action, especially during a time when she said the world is seeing attacks on human rights from every angle.
“There’s a lot happening in this country with our current administration attacks, and there’s a lot happening beyond,” Davos said. “And young people are tuned into what is happening and they are taking action now. They’re leading that change, and that’s what we’re seeing at Amnesty.”
Davos said another component of AIUSA’s decision to grant Amnesty AU the award was their passage of the Firewall for Freedom resolution. The Firewall for Freedom resolution was created by AIUSA in partnership with the American Civil Liberties Union to uplift freedom of speech and push university administrations not to capitulate to the Trump administration.
Amnesty AU was the first college chapter in the country to pass the resolution through their student government in March 2025. Mendell said he worked with AU Student Government and other organizations that were willing to support the resolution and the hope that it will create visibility for student safety on campus.
“Just keeping it in the forefront of the [AU] administration’s minds that even though you’ve put out some vague assurances, that this is still something students are concerned about,” Mendell said. “Maybe you should take more comprehensive actions to ensure their security and safety.”
Despite its passage through AUSG, the official referendum came up short in October 2025. However, Mendell said he believes the resolution’s passage will increase student visibility on the issue and help produce a referendum in the future.
As of the 2026 spring semester, Mendell has stepped down from his role as president and is now the leadership development officer, where he assists Amnesty AU’s executive board and its new officers.
His successor, Rodney Woods, a junior in SPA and the chapter’s former vice president, said he participated in community organizing in high school and wanted to continue his involvement with human rights advocacy through Amnesty AU when he arrived on campus.
Woods said many of his human rights priorities align with Mendell’s, which is why he decided to run for president to continue the precedent Mendell has established.
“What I hope to do to continue [Mendell’s] legacy is do what we both agreed on, which is give voice to the voiceless, to prop up these under-heard campaigns and situations and conflicts,” Woods said.
Currently, Woods said he is working with Davos to raise awareness for the conflict in Sudan and other African countries and hopes to give a voice to survivors and victims from those countries.
Woods, who recently won the University’s Active Citizen Award, said he views Amnesty AU’s award as an acknowledgment for their hard work and hopes their mobilization will spread and create change.
“It means that people are actually paying attention,” Woods said. “It means that our work is working.”
Mendell said the award feels reaffirming — his hours of hard work and event planning paid off. He said he sometimes feels their work goes unnoticed, so the award was a huge contribution to the chapter’s visibility.
“Even if I don’t notice it, other people are noticing it,” Mendell said. “It feels good, not only as an advocate but as someone who is trying to make as much change as possible, that it’s getting out there.”
This article was edited by Natalie Hausmann, Payton Anderson and Gabrielle McNamee. Copy editing done by Avery Grossman and Mattie Lupo. Fact-checking done by Luca Palma Poth.
