Senior Tabitha Saour first began her social justice leadership journey as the treasurer of the Organization of Asian Sisters in Solidarity (OASIS+) during her sophomore year at Colgate University. Now, as the president of the organization, she reflected on how her personal growth has coincided with the club’s evolution.
“I first joined OASIS+ because of our emphasis on activism and representation,” Saour said. “Being a leader [for OASIS+] has really helped me come out of my shell.”
Whether it is presenting at the ALANA Cultural Center’s annual Social Justice Summit or hosting two extremely successful Asian Night Markets this semester, Saour is proud of the impact she and her OASIS+ team have had on highlighting underrepresented voices on campus. She specifically thought about the Night Market held on April 4 on ALANA’s front patio, noting how excited she was to see so many different cultural organizations share their food with the broader campus community and how many attendees came to eat, drink and have fun.
“OASIS+ only recently became the main organizer for the Night Markets, and this year was the first time we held two. I’m happy they both went really well,” Saour said.
Recently, Saour accepted the Social Justice Programs Award on behalf of OASIS+ during the 2026 Student Engagement and Achievement Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, April 8. The award was presented by Director of ALANA Esther Rosbrook to a student organization that advances social equity by using its events to promote advocacy, education and collective action.
“Social justice has definitely become more of a priority for OASIS+ this past year. It’s incredibly rewarding to educate others about Asian media presence and to collaborate with other student organizations to host events that celebrate diversity,” Saour said.
Senior Ellie Meunier, a fellow OASIS+ executive board member, expressed her gratitude for Saour’s contributions to the organization over the years and spoke to the way Saour has efficiently led the club.
“She has fostered a highly supportive culture that is light-hearted and fun while still getting things done, and she manages this balance effortlessly,” Meunier said. “To be honest, she is a major part of the reason why I decided to join the core, and I have been so grateful for the opportunity to work with her and call her my friend.”
Saour’s activist work goes beyond her involvement in OASIS+. Her fascination with and passion for female empowerment was captured in her honors history thesis titled “From Self Help to Peer Networks: College Women’s Demystification of Women’s Health and Sexuality.” Her thesis discusses navigating college, female sexuality and the social stigma around women’s health.
“I was also inspired by Colgate itself,” Saour said. “I learned about how students created a human chain surrounding East Hall to protest against the University’s portrayal of sexual assault survivors as just statistics, and it drove me to learn more about exploring college and female health.
Her advisor, Associate Professor of History Monica L. Mercado, illustrated how working with Saour and witnessing her innovative research for her honors thesis has transformed her perspective on the way students can interact with history as an academic discipline.
“One of the things that makes [Saour] such a good historian is her excellent eye for detail. The way [Saour] can narrate the fold in a piece of paper or the tiny handmade stitches on a dress hem is so terrific and makes her readers interested in histories big and small,” Mercado said.
When Saour is not in class or facilitating events for OASIS+, you can find her at the Picker Art Gallery, where she works as a student curatorial assistant. She plays a prominent role in writing acquisition proposals that are presented to Colgate museum directors and appropriate funding offices in order to decide what gets shown at the gallery. Saour delineated the fruits of her research for next year’s exhibitions at Picker: a traveling exhibition about stickers as protest and an exhibition that honors Ukrainian survival, resilience and grief amidst oppression.
“Even though I don’t exactly want to be a curator in the future, seeing my hard work come to life is really cool,” Saour said. “Having these types of opportunities wouldn’t have been possible if I had gone to another school.”
Saour recognized the role Colgate has had on her professional and personal development and offered some reflections on her past four years in college and how she has found her voice on her campus.
“If you had told me in my freshman year that I would be involved in OASIS+ leadership, craft my own honors history thesis and be a part of the art gallery, I would have been panicking and anxious,” Saour said. “I’m still an anxious person, but I’ve certainly come a long way from my first year.”
Saour plans to continue cultivating her passion for creating safe spaces for intellectual exploration in museums after her graduation. She will return to Colgate and the Picker Art Gallery as an Education and Engagement fellow for University Museums, where she will be leading undergraduate students through their own journeys as museum curators.
