Second
annual President’s
Awards for Diversity presented
Kathy
Johnson
The
2004 University of Kentucky President’s Award
for Diversity winners were (front, L-R) Kathy
Sheppard-Jones, Tamara L. Brown and Veleshia Smith; (back,
L-R) Juanita Fleming, Karen Slaymaker and Carole Gnatuk (representing
the International Hospitality Program), and James Wims. Deneese Jones
(back, far right), chair of the President’s Commission
on Diversity, helped present the awards.
|
University of Kentucky President Lee
T. Todd Jr. recently presented the second
annual President’s Award for Diversity in honor and appreciation
of those who have demonstrated outstanding efforts toward
advancing UK’s mission of embracing diversity
while maintaining academic excellence.
The
award was presented to five people and one unit within the
university during a ceremony at the UK College of Law Courtroom. The
presentation was part of the conference “Education Beyond
Brown: Future Perspectives” organized by the President’s
Commission on Diversity. Award
winners by category were:
Student – Veleashia Smith is a senior in the College of Social
Work,
a charter member of the President’s Commission on Diversity,
a senator with Student
Government, and second vice-president and Homecoming
chair for her sorority, Zeta Phi Beta. She
is very active in efforts to promote diversity at UK. Smith was credited with organizing the College of Social Work’s
first minority seminar which led to the revival of
the UK chapter of
the National Association of Black Social Workers. She
was cabinet secretary for Campus Unity with Student
Government and coordinated programs to help bridge
the gap between Student Government and the African-American
student population.
Staff
member – James Wims, assistant vice president for student affairs
and director of residence
life, was described by a nominator as “the best role
model for diversity that UK has
to offer.” Wims was
credited with building an outstanding diversity training
program for the Residence Life staff and instrumental in
making diversity a strong part of the training for resident
advisers in all of UK’s residence halls. The training is noted for its inclusiveness and supportiveness
with regard to ethnic, culture, gender, sexual orientation
and disability differences. Wims also
was credited with recruiting and retaining a highly diverse
staff and being an active participant in service work at UK and in the community including
mentoring African-American students.
Staff
member – Kathy Sheppard-Jones, project leader
and researcher in UK’s Interdisciplinary
Human Development Institute, was nominated for her “superb
leadership in diversity issues on campus, especially in
relationship to the needs of individuals with disabilities.” Among
Sheppard-Jones’ many activities related to inclusion and
accessibility, she has been credited with being the driving
force behind the UK
Accessibility Map, an online interactive map enabling
students, faculty, staff and visitors with physical impairments
to find accessible routes to each building on campus. She
also was involved with establishing the Engaging Differences
Web site that provides information to faculty and staff
to help them more effectively educate and serve students
with disabilities.
Faculty
member – Tamara L. Brown, assistant professor
of psychology, became the first ethnic minority faculty
member in the clinical psychology program at UK when she arrived in 1999. A nominator said, “Brown has worked relentlessly and untiringly
for diversity.” Brown’s scholarly
research, focusing on ethnic minority and cross-cultural
psychology especially pertaining to minority mental health
issues, has received national attention. Among Brown’s many diversity endeavors, she serves as faculty
adviser to the Black Graduate and Professional Students
Association and works to improve UK’s
recruitment and retention of ethnically diverse graduate
students. Her efforts within her own department have resulted in a
significant increase in the number of African-American
applicants to the doctoral program in clinical psychology.
Community
member – Juanita Fleming, retired special assistant
to the president for academic affairs and former professor
of nursing at UK,
is now interim vice president for academic affairs at Kentucky State University. A widely published researcher in the health care area and
expert in academic policy, Fleming was described by one
of her nominators as “a proven leader who has melded academic
leadership with principles of diversity.” She was credited with having a quiet but progressive impact
on the hiring of diverse faculty members especially in
areas of scientific under-representation, and she informally
provided counsel to women and other minority faculty who
wanted to pursue administrative careers. In 1990, Fleming served as chair of UK’s Ad Hoc Committee
on Minorities.
University
unit – The
International Hospitality Program (IHP) is
a community-based organization sponsored by UK’s Office
of International Affairs. Due
to the efforts of the program, approximately 150 of UK’s 1,500 international students
are currently paired with American volunteer hosts in the
community. The IHP works with community and university groups to provide
welcoming events for international students and to provide
other supportive services for the students. IHP’s purpose is to promote cross-cultural learning, provide
international students a culturally rich experience outside
the classroom, and offer local citizens the opportunity
to make international friends.
“I
am extremely pleased with the caliber of our nominees this
year. Each has exhibited a sincere
desire and determination to improve the university through
diversity efforts,” Todd said. “This
is consistent with our Strategic Plan objective for UK to nurture diversity of thought,
culture, gender and ethnicity.”
Recipients
of the President’s Award for Diversity were selected by the
President’s Commission on Diversity Awards Committee and
received $500 and a display award.
Kathy
Johnson
