Greenport’s Faith Welch wins national prize in race relations

Faith Welch of Greenport, 17, won the 2025 Princeton Prize in Race Relations for the New York City metro region. This prize recognizes 25 students throughout the country who have demonstrated leadership in advancing racial equity or promoting racial understanding in their schools and communities. Faith was able to attend a symposium at Princeton in April, where she networked with alumni and made valuable connections.
Faith won her award for her ongoing research into enslavement on the North Fork and advocacy for the Black community. She is the youth ambassador for the racial healing group Coming to the Table and the youth leader for the local Juneteenth celebration. She is also the founder and president of the African American studies club at her school and a junior scholar at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem. Through her internship last year at both the Sterling Historical Society and the Oysterponds Historical Society, she explored the origins of a doll house with historical connections to local enslaved people and the family who enslaved them.
“The outcome has been so much better than I would have thought. I’ve made so many friends with the Princeton [symposium] and the Schomberg [program] and I’ve met so many like-minded people,” Faith said.
Sticking to her ideals has not been easy. In spite of all the recognition she has received, including a proclamation from both Greenport and Suffolk County, this pursuit has been an uphill battle for Faith.
“I had to make an African American studies club. I had to do that, because there wasn’t space for that in the school. I had to push for it,” she said. “I understand how it is to be a minority in the school. A lot of people are embarrassed about their history and their culture, and it’s shunned and not talked about. So, I wanted to make a space where I could be talked about.”
Still, she is hoping this work can be her legacy as she graduates and continues her studies. Faith was impressed with her experience at Princeton and has applied there for early decision.
“I want to make something that will last. So that’s why I’ve been mentoring sophomores and freshmen so that they can keep it going after I leave,” she said.
Faith credits positive influences such as village clerk Candace Hall, Reverend Natalie Wimberly and Liz Welch for her perseverance.
“They’ve helped me, and they’ve pushed me and told me, like, ‘The sky is not the limit,’ so that’s helped me to keep going,” she said.
Recent experiences with law enforcement have also reinforced her commitment to doing this work.
“That also proved to me that racism is still rampant, even in our small community, even though it’s like, ‘Oh, we’re so diverse, everyone’s friends, everyone’s family,’” she said. “No, there’s still people who are like that, even though it’s 2025. That’s something that happened that made me want to research deeper, definitely.”