April 23, 2008

President’s Commission Awardees Recognized

Great work does not go unrecognized at Ohio Wesleyan, especially when the President’s Commission on Racial and Cultural Diversity is involved. Members of the Commission, co-chaired by Paula White, associate professor of education, and Deborah Lipscomb, director of the Upward Bound program, recently announced the recipients of the second annual President’s Awards for Racial and Cultural Diversity. Given to one student, one member of the faculty/staff/administration, and one campus organization/department in recognition of their efforts to improve the quality of life and promoting diversity and social justice at OWU, the 2007-08 recipients are:

• Senior John Betts, for his leadership and courage in promoting diversity and acceptance of GLBT persons at OWU; and Ben Owen, as an advocate for racial and cultural diversity through his work with WCSA’s Cultural Sensitivity ad-hoc committee.

• Faculty/Staff member Sally Leber, for her indefatigable commitment to developing OWU students’ knowledge of the multicultural and multiracial nature of American society and the need for all of us to be engaged socially, politically, and personally with diversity issues.

• Organization member, the Entrepreneurship Club, for its work with Global Village Collection in Delaware, which is a member of the Fair Trade Association.

“The President’s Commission on Racial and Cultural Diversity was pleased with the number and variety of nominees for our second annual awards program,” say both Lipscomb and White. “The nominations reflect the high quality of work being done by many to support the improvement of our campus climate with regard to diversity.” Both co-chairs want to recognize all nominees as well as the awards recipients.

– Pam Besel