Jasmine Carter, a senior at Eden Prairie High School, is the winner of the 2020 Dr. Jean L. Harris Scholarship Award from the Eden Prairie Community Foundation.

Jasmine Carter

The $1,500 scholarship is presented annually to a high school senior from Eden Prairie who intends to continue his or her schooling. Applicants are judged on a number of accomplishments, including dedication to promoting human rights and fostering diversity and an inclusive community spirit.

Dr. Jean Harris was Eden Prairie’s first female mayor and first black mayor, serving in that position from 1996 to 2001. She died from lung cancer in 2001. Her pioneering life began in the segregated South and included being the first black graduate of the Medical College of Virginia. She advised five U.S. presidents on health policy, and in Eden Prairie championed the Eden Prairie Manifesto, a statement of the community’s dedication toward diversity and inclusion.

Carter’s involvement and volunteer work on issues involving diversity and human rights have been through organizations including the EPHS Gay Straight Alliance, the Inclusive Minded Performing Arts Council of Teens (IMPACT Team), the Penumbra Theatre Summer Institute, and Eden Prairie TreeHouse.

She will be attending St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn.

A second-year Dr. Jean Harris Scholarship has also been awarded to Bianca Byfield, who won the scholarship for the first time last year. A 2019 graduate of EPHS, she is a student at Harvard.

The scholarship advances the Foundation’s mission to make Eden Prairie better through leadership, collaboration, and philanthropy. The Foundation’s other work in the area of diversity and human rights includes collaborating with other organizations to hold the annual PeopleFest! and Culture ‘N Motion events.