A scholarship from the Rice Annual Fund opens possibilities for students and inspires them to reach their full potential. For Avalon Hogans ’26 (Sid Rich), this support gave her the financial freedom and peace of mind to evolve as an artist.
Avalon Hogans ’26 (Sid Rich) came to Rice as an accomplished young artist — a writer and poet who served as Houston’s sixth Youth Poet Laureate. She is honing her talents at Rice as an English major with a concentration in creative writing, while also pursuing a minor in African and African American studies and a Certificate in Civic Leadership.
Avalon’s first two years at Rice have been filled with creative challenges and opportunities. A few weeks into her freshman year, Avalon was invited to deliver a poem at the 60th anniversary of the John F. Kennedy Moonshot Speech. Soon after, she was commissioned by Rice to write and perform a poem to be used in a commercial about the university. She titled it, “Rice Fight Inspires.”
“Writing the poem was challenging. It had to be less than 30 seconds,” Avalon explained. “I wrote about sciences and humanities that inspire. Featuring the humanities was my way of claiming my own space.”
Also during her freshman year, Avalon participated in a research project with the Center for Civic Leadership. “I had never done research before, and working on a project about Freedmen’s Town in Houston, where I grew up, was especially meaningful,” Avalon said. “I was digging through archives. I went to the African American Library at the Gregory School, the University of Houston, the Texas State University archives. It was really cool because I wasn’t doing the work for a grade. I was working on this history with the intention of making a difference, discovering something new, making an impact.”
Most recently, Avalon has been awarded the Loewenstern Fellowship through the Center for Civic Leadership. This summer she will spend ten weeks in Nairobi, Kenya, working with Azadi, a survivor-led, counter-trafficking NGO that provides long-term support for survivors. Avalon will work with Azadi’s ethical storytelling team to create a body of artistic works that will be presented at the United Nation’s World Day Against Trafficking in Persons.
Avalon has a vision for her writing, and it is to educate and inspire action. “As a writer, my priority is to inspire others. I’m not here to inform people. No one has to read my writing. No one has to come my events. No one has to see my art. But I’m out here, and I’m doing it. My hope is that at least one other person will connect with it.”
Avalon is thankful to donors for making her incredible Rice experience possible. “I hope donors know that they are literally changing lives,” she shared. “I am able to be at this incredible school and do things I never imagined possible. It really is a big deal.”
Learn more about Avalon's portfolio of work.
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