President’s Diversity Award recipients announced

University of Colorado faculty and staff will be honored as recipients of the annual President’s Diversity Award, which recognizes significant achievements of individuals and administrative units toward developing a more culturally diverse, competent and inclusive university community.

Awardees will be recognized at a reception, from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, May 9, in the first floor conference room at 1800 Grant St.  All are invited to attend; please RSVP by Friday, May 4, to thomas.spahr@cu.edu.

The 2012 honorees are:

Cordova

Anthony Cordova, director of the Multicultural Office for Student Access, Inclusiveness, and Community (MOSAIC) and CU Opportunity Program at UCCS, has made a difference in student recruitment, retention, campus climate and community outreach through his leadership efforts. Cordova has worked with admissions to enroll students with high potential who didn’t meet the admissions standards; he provides invaluable mentorship to each student to ensure their success at UCCS. He has played a pivotal role in the development of MOSAIC and the CU Opportunity Program, and has been deeply engaged with campus diversity issues through his involvement with the Faculty Minority Affairs Committee, the Diversity Alliance Staff Committee, the Diversity Strategic Planning organizing task force, the Inclusive Campus Action Team and the Diversity Foundations Committee. Beyond the university community, Cordova has forged lasting relationships with the Latino Youth Conference and the African-American Youth Conference. He has worked closely with the Pueblo Hispanic Education Fund, where a scholarship has been created in honor of his parents.

Vieyra

Sharon Vieyra, office manager at the Office of Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement (ODECE) at CU-Boulder, is described as being an agent of influence and impact within her department, providing more than 15 years of experience and knowledge in diversity work within the CU-Boulder and Boulder communities. Her thoughtfulness and attentiveness to community matters has helped ODECE become better engaged with the university community. Outside of the university, Sharon has volunteered for the CU Hispanic Alumni Association for 15 years, raising funds for scholarships. She also has volunteered with the Boulder County Latina Women’s League for seven years, mentoring young Latinas entering higher education.

Boromisza-Habashi

David Boromisza-Habashi, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Communication at CU-Boulder, taught a course in Buckingham Hall that included a section where his first-year students engaged in a dialogue with CU-Boulder’s custodial staff, facilitated by Pilar Prostko, the Program Coordinator for the CU Dialogues Program. This dialogue increased students’ understanding of the perspective of custodial staff and resulted in the creation of a "community pledge" to post in the residence hall that would make residents more aware of how their actions affect the cleaning staff. Students posted the pledge throughout each wing of Buckingham Hall. Because of their efforts, students in Boromisza-Habashi’s class were selected by the CU Dialogues Program staff for inclusion in a photographic exhibit produced by The Milestones Project and sponsored by the Colorado Conflict Resolution Month. The exhibit will be displayed at the state Capitol or Denver's Civic Center Park in October, followed by a tour of the state.

The Program for Writing and Rhetoric (PWR) at CU-Boulder is one of very few units that has a clear curricular mandate for diversity. It offers lower-division courses with diverse reading themes and upper-division topics encompassing a wide range of diversity topics: queer rhetorics, women writers, rhetoric of faith, spirituality, cross-cultural writing and film, feminism and motherhood, race, class, gender and more. The department implements diversity in course offerings as a matter of instructional value to encourage these topics as a natural way of thinking and behaving in the CU community. Besides diversity curriculum in courses, the PWR offers Service Learning courses that promote and provide service to organizations such as a homeless shelter, the Red Cross and other agencies. In March 2012, the department sponsored and organized the annual Undergraduate Diversity Conference, “Normalizing Inclusion.” The conference promoted dialogue on diversity issues, enhanced openness and respect in the campus climate, and showcased PWR student writings on diversity-related topics.

Also receiving commendations for 2012:

The Alumni Association Affinity Group Program at CU-Boulder supports the educational success of under-represented minorities through its seven affinity groups: Black Alumni CU-Boulder Alumni Chapter, GLBTA CU-Boulder Alumni Chapter, CU-Boulder Latino Alumni Association, Native American Indian Alumni Association, CU-Boulder Jewish Alumni Association, Air Force ROTC, and CU Military Veterans Alumni Society.

The Chemistry Department at CU-Boulder is commended for implementing strong teaching practices that follow the principles of universal design for learning, making their courses accessible for everyone.