By Amalia Wompa
Rye High School senior Madeline Morgan was named the 2025-26 recipient of the Rye City Human Rights Youth Award, an annual honor given to a local student who helps strengthen the community through education, activism, or community service.
Rita Capek, chair of the Rye City Human Rights Commission, presented the award at Wednesday’s City Council meeting, noting this year’s winner has worked tirelessly in all three categories.
“Maddie is a young woman whose capacity for compassion has quietly shaped the lives of everyone around her,” Capek said. “Maddie’s story is one of showing up in ways big and small, for those surrounding her at school, in her relationships, and in her community.”
After receiving the award, Morgan thanked her family and those who have supported her over the years.
“I definitely wouldn’t be able to be in a position to make change without them,” Morgan said, “and I want to keep making change.”
The next stop for Morgan is Villanova University’s nursing program, which Capek said has an acceptance rate of just 10%.
Among Morgan’s many leadership roles, she served as president of the RHS peer-to-peer club, a program affiliated with the University of Michigan, where she leads more than 50 students in addressing youth mental health challenges.
She also co-advises the LET’S Club (Let’s End the Stigma), which gathers students to have honest conversations about the pressures of high school and growing up. These open conversations are also held with Morgan’s help at the Rye Student Forum, where students can speak freely outside of a classroom environment.
Morgan’s innate drive to help those around her translates well into the medical field, where she worked as a junior EMT with the Port Chester/Rye/Rye Brook Ambulance Corps. Morgan earned seven certifications in her role while responding to emergency 911 calls. She has also prepared meals as a volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House, helped elderly neighbors during snowstorms by shoveling their driveways, and has welcomed freshmen as a student ambassador at RHS.
“She is proof that you don’t have to wait until you’re grown to change the world around you,” Capek said.
Morgan’s commitment to service and advocacy is also reflected in her work as a team leader for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, where she and 15 others raised nearly $70,000 for the organization. Morgan first drew the attention of the human rights commission through her participation in the organization’s monthly meetings. In February, she helped organize a screening of “The Hidden History of Slavery in New York” as part of the commission’s celebration of Black History Month.
Among all of her impressive accomplishments, Morgan has even launched her own original neuroscience research on peer pressure in young adults. This research is supported by the Rye Fund for Education, as well as help from her mentor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Through the project, Morgan has had the opportunity to study live brainwave data at UMass Amherst, which is known as a top research university in Massachusetts.
“You’ll make a big impact in the world in whatever corner you occupy,” Mayor Josh Nathan told Morgan. “Thank you for being one of us. Do right by Rye.”
