The Knight Center for Environmental Journalism received an Excellent Progress toward Diversity Collaboration award from MSU.

Excellent Progress Award

MSU to recognize community members with Excellence in Diversity awards

by Kristin K. Anderson

March 6, 2008 - MSU will recognize students, faculty and staff for their innovative efforts in promoting diversity at the annual Excellence in Diversity Recognition and Awards program March 12.

The program will be held at 4 p.m. in the Clara Bell Smith Center adjacent to the Duffy Daugherty Football Building on the southeast corner of Shaw Lane and Chestnut Street. The event is open to the public. For additional information call the MSU Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives at (517) 353-3922 or e-mail diversity@msu.edu.

Individual and team recipients of Excellence in Diversity awards receive a cash award of $2,500. Four students will receive Students Making a Difference through Artistic Expression cash awards.

Student award recipients are Ashton Moore of Lansing, a master’s jazz studies student; Thomas Sklut of Farmington Hills, a senior music major; Yuanliang Sun of Jackson, a master’s student in studio art; and Cedric Tai, a teacher certification intern year student.

Winners of the 2008 Multicultural Heroes Hall of Fame and the 2008 International Student Essay Contest also will be recognized at the program.

Individual award recipients:

• Kaustav Mukerjee, a doctoral student in English in the College of Arts and Letters, will receive an Excellence in Diversity award. President of the MSU International Students Association, he works to help increase visibility of and represent the voice of international students. He has been a panelist for numerous intercultural communication workshops to sensitize employees on the challenges of communicating across cultures. A member of the Community Volunteers for International Programs Speakers Bureau, he shares his Indian culture with local school classes and community groups.

• Esther Onaga, associate professor in the Department of Family and Child Ecology in the College of Social Science, will receive a Sustained Effort toward Excellence in Diversity award. She takes part in innovative programs and policy forums for state legislators and public audiences to encourage change and educate others on creating a caring environment. She has worked with local schools, and state and national agencies to help MSU students and the clients they work with become active participants in their communities.

Team award recipient:

• The African Atlantic Research Team and director Jualynne Dodson, professor of sociology in the College of Social Science, will receive a Sustained Effort toward Excellence in Diversity award. The team, a mentoring collective and research group including faculty, graduate and undergraduate students and community members, works to help increase the number of U.S. American Indians, Chicana/os and Latina/os, African- Americans and Asian-Americans who have successful careers in academic endeavors.

Unit award recipient:

• The Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, College of Communication Arts and Sciences, and director Jim Detjen, Knight Professor and Knight Chair in Journalism, will receive an Excellent Progress toward Diversity Collaboration award. Center staff members hold workshops for Detroit high school students on health, environment and science reporting. The center offers scholarships and assistantships to minority students at MSU.

Organization award recipient:

• The Spartan Child Development Center and director Rosene Johnson will receive an Excellent Progress toward Advancing Diversity award for commitment to diversity and pluralism in all aspects of its programming, including hiring and staff training, curriculum, the food program, interactions between parents and staff members, and providing for accommodations for children with special needs.

Lifetime Achievement award recipients:

• George Cornell, director of the Native American Institute in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, professor of history in the College of Social Science and professor in interdepartmental studies in the College of Arts and Letters, is a tireless advocate for American Indians and especially the native peoples of Michigan. He will receive a Lifetime Achievement award. Cornell helped establish the Nokomis Learning Center in Okemos and was a co-founder of the American Indian Studies program at the university. He established the Native American Institute at MSU, which provides training, technical assistance, research and educational assistance to Michigan’s American Indian tribes and organizations, serves Michigan state officials and lawmakers by offering information on policies regarding American Indians.

• Mary Lee Davis, professor of higher, adult and lifelong education in the College of Education, will receive a Lifetime Achievement award. She has shared the MSU story and messages of diversity and inclusion with the Michigan Legislature, alumni associations, chambers of commerce and other organizations at local and national levels. Her posts at MSU have included executive assistant to the president, secretary of the MSU Board of Trustees, associate vice president for public service and community affairs, and associate vice president for governmental affairs. She has served as president of numerous community boards, including the Michigan Capital Girl Scout Council and as chairperson of the Sparrow Hospital Board of Directors. She currently is on the Michigan American Council of Education Executive Board and is the faculty adviser for the MSU Council of Graduate Students.

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MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer.