College of Social Science senior Kaylin Casper has been named the winner of the 2026 Richard Lee Featherstone Endowed Prize, a prestigious award open to all Michigan State University seniors. Casper was chosen as this year’s recipient out of a wide array of outstanding students graduating this spring.
The Featherstone Prize was created in 1986 by a group of MSU College of Education alumni to celebrate Dr. Richard Lee Featherstone’s life and contributions to scholarship, research and leadership. The Featherstone Prize is awarded to an MSU senior majoring in any discipline who exhibits an open, curious and creative approach to education and ideas, with demonstrated character and leadership, and a commitment to community service.
A Burbank, California native, Casper will graduate with degrees in sociology, humanities - prelaw and women’s & gender studies, with minors in American Indian & Indigenous Studies, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and sexuality studies and peace and justice studies. She is a member of the Social Science Scholars Program and the Honors College.
Casper holds multiple leadership positions at MSU, including general assembly representative for the Associated Students of MSU, board member for the North American Indigenous Student Organization and member of the Land Acknowledgement Plaque Committee.
“Some students leave a legacy at MSU which is guaranteed to live on for many years after their departure. Kaylin is one such benefactor to our campus,” Social Science Scholars Program Director John Waller said. “Soon after arriving at MSU, Kaylin threw herself into the work of the North American Indigenous Student Organization. As an executive board member, she has been a driving force behind every student initiative to enhance support for Native students. It’s hard to overstate the significance of what she’s achieved.”
In 2024, Casper became one of only 50 Americans to be named a Udall Scholar for her dedication to Native rights and welfare. She was a university nominee for both the Marshall and Rhodes Scholarship and reached the national finals of the 2025 Rhodes and Truman Scholarship competitions. She also served on the 2025 MSU Homecoming Court.
Associate Professor and Undergraduate Program Director of Sociology Dr. Sarah Prior describes Casper as “a scholar-activist in all senses of the word.”
“[Casper] has accomplished all of this with courage and resilience of the very highest order,” Waller added.
Winners of the Featherstone Prize are provided a small grant to be used for their future growth and development, travel, graduate study or meditation. Casper will be presented the award at the College of Social Science Commencement ceremony May 2. After graduation, Casper plans on taking a gap year before pursuing a joint PhD/JD in Sociology. Her long-term goal is to practice Federal Indian Law, litigating on behalf of Tribal Nations and advancing Native justice within the U.S. legal system.
