Palm Beach County Human Rights Council

The Social Justice Award is named after Daniel S. Hall, a local attorney who manages a financial counseling company. Hall has served as the Treasurer of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council since 1990 and is its longest serving board member. As a father of three, an activist and a mentor of gay youth, Hall always has had a strong interest in education. PBCHRC awards the annual scholarship to local college-bound high school seniors who have demonstrated an interest in advocacy on behalf of the LGBTQ community.

Up to three $1,000 scholarships will be awarded to Palm Beach County high school seniors.

Victor Espidol, a senior at Boynton Beach Community High School, is the founder of the Boynton Beach High School Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) and has been an active participant in the Compass LGBTQ Community Center's youth program. In 2014, Victor traveled to Tallahassee to urge legislators to defeat a bill that would have banned transgender individuals from using their self-identified genders bathroom. He is an advocate for comprehensive sexual education in the public schools and has spoken out about the need for more HIV prevention programs in Palm Beach County. Victor will be attending the University of Florida to study biology.

Melanie Camejo Coffigny, a senior at Lake Worth Community High School, is founder and president of her high school's GSA, which is one of the largest organizations at her school. In conjunction with 2016 PrideFest of the Palm Beaches, Melanie and other GSA members from throughout the county joined the parade contingent of policemen and women employed by the School District of Palm Beach County. Marching together, the group showed support for LGBTQ students. Melanie will be attending Duke University in the fall to study neuroscience.

In 2015, PBCHRC presented the inaugural Daniel S. Hall Social Justice Award to Ethan Kennedy, who graduated from Oxford Academy. Ethan founded and served as president of his school's Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA). He was also responsible for implementing the school's participation in the National Day of Silence, a day of action in which students vow to take a form of silence to call attention to the silencing effect of anti-LGBTQ bullying and harassment in schools. Ethan is attending New College of Florida, where he is studying Political Science and Women's/Gender Studies.

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