Miami University

Student Abbey Steele honored by USA TODAY

02/19/2001

Abbey Steele, a Miami University senior from Avon, Ohio, received honorable mention in USA TODAY’s recent All-USA College Academic Team competition.

Steele was one of only 85 students to be recognized in the annual competition. Judges considered grades, activities, leadership and how students use their intellectual skills outside the classroom.

Steele, a political science major with a minor in women’s studies, is founder of Miami’s chapter of Free the Slaves, the first college chapter of the national organization.

Established by Kevin Bales, a leading expert on modern slavery, Free the Slaves (www.freetheslaves.net) is the sister organization to Anti-Slavery International, the world’s oldest human rights group.

According to Bales, 27 million people are in slavery around the world. Steele works with Bales as a student organizer, raising awareness of issues of modern slavery and helping to start Free the Slaves chapters at other universities.

Steele has also been selected as a semi-finalist for a 2001 British Marshall Scholarship, and as a finalist for a Fulbright Scholar Award to research modern slavery in Colombia.