• Home
  • News
  • 2017
  • Raveena Aulakh Memorial Award in Journalism and Communication

Raveena Aulakh Memorial Award in Journalism and Communication

Picture of Raveena AulakhThe family and friends of Raveena Aulakh, a graduate of the Master of Arts in Journalism program in 2007, have established a new entrance award in her memory.

Raveena was an accomplished journalist with the Hindustan Times and the Indian Express in India when she decided to challenge herself to practice her craft on the other side of the world. She traveled to Canada and attended the Master of Arts in Journalism program at Western in 2006-07, where she inspired her fellow classmates with her quiet sense of humour, tireless work ethic, and keen journalistic eye.

After graduating from the master’s program at Western, she interned at the Globe and Mail and the Hamilton Spectator, and worked at the Waterloo Region Record and the Toronto Star, where her last role was as a global environment reporter. She was twice nominated for a National Newspaper Award, winning in 2013 for her undercover investigation of Bangladesh sewing factories. Fearless and dedicated to her profession, Raveena won friends and admirers everywhere she went. She passed away in 2016 at the age of 42.

The Raveena Aulakh Memorial Award in Journalism and Communication will be awarded annually to a full-time graduate student entering the Master of Media in Journalism and Communication (MMJC) program, based on excellent academic achievement and prior experience in journalism and/or communication. The recipient will be selected by the Dean of the Faculty of Information and Media Studies, in consultation with at least one member of the admissions committee in the MMJC program who holds membership in the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. The selected recipient will receive a one-time entrance award of $2000.

If you would like to donate to this fund, please visit the FIMS "Where to Give" webpage. Click the blue donate button in the top right. When you reach the question asking "Is this gift in honour or memory?" select Yes, followed by Other. Search Raveena Aulakh in the search bar and the correct fund should appear.

Read some of Raveena's work:

"I got hired at a Bangladesh sweatshop. Meet my 9-year-old boss" (from the Toronto Star, October 11, 2013)

"Japan tsunami’s wake leaves grieving mothers still searching for children in school disaster zone" (from the Toronto Star, February 17, 2012)