Student Council Hosts Annual Tradition of Excellence Awards

On Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, Student Council will host the annual Tradition of Excellence Awards. Launched in 1982, the awards recognize alumni who have made outstanding contributions to society through their personal and professional pursuits. Here's an introduction to this year's recipients.

Stephanie “Sparkle” Edwards, Class of 1986
R&B singer and advocate

Platinum-selling R&B performer Stephanie “Sparkle” Edwards began singing at church as a young child. In 1998, her first album, “Sparkle,” debuted at number 3 on the Billboard 200. Sparkle has worked with a variety of well-known artists during her career, including Aaliyah, Mary J. Blige, Wyclef Jean, and Toni Braxton. She also has been an advocate for abused women and girls, and in 2024 received the inaugural Courage Fund Award from the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice. The Courage Fund works to empower women and girls to speak out against violence, and is an initiative led by bestselling author Ta-Nehisi Coates, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Salamishah Tillet, artist Scheherazade Tillet of A Long Walk Home, and activist Ted Bunch of A Call to Men. 

Dr. Kate Masur, Class of 1989
Professor, historian, and author 

John D. MacArthur Professor and professor of history Kate Masur teaches at Northwestern University, specializing in the U.S. history of race, politics, and law. Her award-winning book Until Justice Be Done: America’s First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History, a 2021 critic’s pick from the New York Times, and winner of multiple awards. Dr. Masur regularly collaborates with museums and other nonprofits, including the National Park Service, the National Constitution Center, the Newberry Library, and the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture. 

Jourdan Higgs, Class of 2004
Chef, restaurant owner, and TV personality

Described as a rising star in the culinary world, Jourdan Higgs traces his passion for cooking to growing up in a family with a deep appreciation for southern food. He’s known for innovative techniques and bold flavors; much of what he learned was through experimentation in the family kitchen and, eventually, working with mentors that included Gordan Ramsey. In the midst of the pandemic, with zero restaurant industry experience, Higgs and a business partner launched the tiny West Town restaurant Provaré, focusing on what Higgs calls Creole-Italian fusion. The risk paid off: In 2022 Provaré won the Chicago Tribune Critics Choice Food Award for Best Cinderella story.