Fourth-year student Sophie Tedesco has been awarded the University of Chicago’s highest undergraduate honor, the Hugo F. Sonnenschein Medal of Excellence, for her leadership in justice reform and community advocacy.
Over the past four years, Tedesco’s focus in and out of the classroom has been on developing alternatives to modern-day incarceration while finding better ways to create community and advocate for those in the penal system. Her commitment to this work comes from a belief that a society reveals its character through its treatment of the most vulnerable, and that fundamental transformation is necessary today.
“This award is a recognition of the work I’ve been trying to do over the past four years, and also a call to action for myself and the university community—all of us—to keep fighting injustice and fight for a better world,” said Tedesco, who will graduate next week with degrees in public policy and law, letters and society while also earning her master’s at UChicago in the social sciences with a focus on sociology. “I feel humbled to be receiving this award, and also in some ways woefully inadequate, because I am consistently awed by the work of my peers and organizations around Chicago and across the country to uphold this award’s principles.”
The Sonnenschein Medal of Excellence is given in recognition of the same qualities embodied by the late UChicago president who is its namesake: unwavering hope, ambition for others and an abiding courage of conviction.
“During her time in the College, Sophie has excelled in the classroom and as a student athlete, in addition to making meaningful contributions to the community around her,” said Melina Hale, dean of the College. “Sophie has demonstrated a profound dedication to addressing inequality and advocating for marginalized communities. We are so proud to present her with this honor.”
“This award is...a call to action for myself and the university community—all of us—to keep fighting injustice and fight for a better world.”
As a writing workshop facilitator at Cook County Jail, she built relationships, community and connections with people incarcerated there. Tedesco’s time at the jail also allowed her to see the obstacles and “systemic harm” facing these individuals—including a lack of proper access to housing, health care and education.
“I think that reflecting on how we treat everyone, especially those who have been consistently excluded from society and even people who might be deemed ‘unworthy’ is fundamental to how we approach all issues,” said Tedesco. “The carceral system is a foundational starting point for going against the idea that anyone is disposable. Community building in Cook County Jail is a small-scale manifestation of the broader change I hope to advance—fostering connection, community, and opportunity in and beyond the carceral system to uplift the humanity of people trapped within it.”
As a scholar, Sophie has critically examined mechanisms within the carceral system. For her thesis, she sought to create a comprehensive picture of programming available in jails throughout the State of Illinois and programming’s relationship to carceral power.
In addition to excelling in the classroom, and dedicating her time in service to others, Tedesco is a student-athlete for the Maroons’ cross country and track and field teams. She has qualified for two NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, finishing as high as 14th in the nation in the 10,000-meter race last spring, while helping UChicago achieve three consecutive top-three finishes at the NCAA National Cross-Country championships. She was recognized as a 2024-25 NCAA Postgraduate Scholar, received the Mary Jean Mulvaney Scholar-Athlete Award from the Women’s Athletics Association and named a member of the 2024-25 Allstate NACDA Good Works Spring Team, recognizing student athletes’ volunteerism and civic engagement.
After graduation she will head to Atlanta to work as an investigator at the Southern Center for Human Rights, whose mission is to end mass incarceration, the criminalization of poverty and the death penalty, particularly in the South. This work will support her longtime goals to develop alternatives to modern-day incarceration while also finding better ways to create community and advocate for those in the penal system.
Tedesco said that she wouldn’t be where she is today without the community around her, which has driven and inspired her while at UChicago.
“I am grateful for the many people who show me the path forward every day with their tireless efforts to care for and uplift others and imagine a society that does the same,” said Tedesco. “I am also immeasurably thankful for my family and the support and inspiration of the community that surrounds me—including my professors, friends and teammates.”
More information about the Hugo F. Sonnenschein Medal of Excellence and past recipients can be found here. The nomination process for the 2026 honoree will begin in Autumn Quarter, 2025.
—A version of this story is published on the University of Chicago College website.
