Cal State Northridge President Jolene Koester will present an Academic Freedom Award to Esha Momeni, an Iranian-American graduate student who was held in solitary confinement in Iran for 25 days last fall while researching the women's movement there, in a ceremony on Tuesday, May 5.
Momeni was selected by the faculty in CSUN's Department of Journalism to receive the award.
"Esha Momeni is being honored for her commitment to academic research," Koester said. "Through her graduate research, Esha was working toward creating a cross-cultural dialog to help us better understand Iranian women. She believed that academic research can bring us closer to the truth."
The ceremony will take place during the annual reception for Northridge's chapter of Kappa Tau Alpha, the national society honoring scholarship in journalism and mass communication. The invitation-only reception is scheduled to take place from 6 to 8 p.m. at CSUN's University Club, located at the southeast corner of the campus near Nordhoff Street and Zelzah Avenue.
Momeni, 28, a mass communication student, was arrested on Oct. 15, 2008 in Tehran for videotaping interviews with members of the Campaign for Equality, a gender rights group in Iran, for her master's thesis. She was held in solitary confinement for 25 days in Evin prison and charged with acting against national security. Momeni has been forbidden to leave Iran since her release from the prison.
Three of Momeni's classmates and fellow mass communications graduate students also will be recognized for their work to secure Momeni's safe return to Los Angeles. John Daquioag will receive the Dean's Award for Academic Achievement and Service from the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication. Kara Lawton and Anasa Sinegal, along with Daquioag, will be awarded the Department of Journalism's Joann DeSantis Advocacy Award. Daquioag, Lawton and Sinegal were the leaders of a student-organized vigil for Momeni held last fall on the CSUN campus and have continued to work for her release since then.
"John, Anasa and Kara applied what they have learned in their classes about media and communication toward helping their classmate," said associate professor Melissa Wall, who supervises the mass communication graduate students. "They did it not for themselves, but for Esha and for their belief in academic freedom for everyone—no matter where they are—conducting research."
The Academic Freedom Award is being given by CSUN's Department of Journalism in recognition of Momeni's pursuit of truth, equality and social justice through academic research.
The Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication's Dean's Award for Academic Achievement and Service is awarded to a graduate student who has given outstanding service to a department, university and/or community while maintaining a high grade point average.
The Joann DeSantis Advocacy Award honors students in the Department of Journalism who have worked to build a better world through social activism.