University rewards affirmatiave action

The University's 14th Affirmative Action and Diversity Initiatives Awards Program was held Oct. 19 in the Branscomb South Dining Room. The program provided an opportunity for the University to recognize employees and students who support the University's commitment to diversity.

The awards are given in two categories: efforts for supporting affirmative action and diversity at Vanderbilt and/or support and promotion of opportunities for persons with disabilities at Vanderbilt.

To be nominated, faculty, staff, students or University groups must have displayed exemplary efforts in support of Vanderbilt's commitment to affirmative action in hiring, project support or development, employee relations or other appropriate facets of affirmative action, equity and diversity.

This year's ceremony opened with a performance by a string quartet from the Blair School of Music. Patricia A. Pierce, director of the Opportunity Development Center welcomed the award recipients and guests.

"We are here today to honor the people who have made a difference, and the differences they make help Vanderbilt be a better place for all of us," Pierce said.

Following Pierce's introductory remarks, Chancellor E. Gordon Gee spoke to the audience.

"This is a celebration -- a striving for a more diverse work force," Gee said. "Differences strengthen all of us."

With that, Gee, Pierce and Anita J. Jenious, assi stant director of the ODC, presented the awards. The top five recipients were awarded cash gifts of $250 by Gee, and several others received Certificates of Recognition.

Daniel Cornfield, professor and chair of the Department of Sociology,has been a major force behind a variety of affirmative action and diversity initiatives on campus for the last decade. He has served on the Dean Graduate Fellowship (formerly the Dorothy Danforth Compton Fellowship), the Advisory Committee in the Graduate School, and served as acting chair in 1999. He has served as a mentor and advisor for several African-American doctoral candidates, including the current chair of the Department of Sociology at Tennessee State University. Of the 16 sociology doctoral students whose dissertation committees he has chaired, more than half have been people of color, and more than 40 percent have been women. He was a co-author of the report on the study, "Diversity and Integration: Can Either Exist Without the Other?" In his book, Becoming a Mighty Voice, he advances a theory of leadership change, documenting the glass ceiling that hinders the integration of women and people of color into leadership positions in national labor organizations.

Francene Gilmer, director of the Career Center, has long been an advocate of diversity on campus. During the past six years, she has played an instrumental role in planning and executing the Black Graduation Ceremony. The program has grown each year and has become one of the most well-attended and successful graduation events. For the past two years, she has served as the chair of the University's Committee on the Status of Women and Minorities. Gilmer also shares her expertise with the Nashville community. She is a member of the Grace M. Eaton Day Care Center board of directors, and is considered an organizational expert and recently helped with fund-raising events for the center.

Russell G. Hamilton, professor of Spanish and Portuguese and former dean of the Graduate School, has demonstrated a passion for enhancing the graduate enterprise at Vanderbilt with a specific emphasis on increasing the diversity of the graduate student body. Under his leadership, Vanderbilt has consistently ranked in the top 50 for Ph.D. degrees awarded to African Americans and has ranked as high as the top 10. Hamilton has been actively engaged in Vanderbilt's efforts to diversify the faculty. He has also been active nationally through his work with the African Fellowship program operated through the Africa-America Institute.

Sonya Smith, assistant dean for Law School Admissions and Student Affairs, works on behalf of minority students and students with disabilities at the Law School. Dean Kent D. Syverud credits Dean Smith with redesigning the Law School's recruitment and admissions process. As a result, 29 percent of the fall 2000 entering class are minority students, which is the highest percentage in the school's history. Students with disabilities also benefit from Smith's commitment to diversity.

Accommodation procedures have become streamlined under her direction to ensure confidentiality and individuality of services for each student. Smith serves on the Appellate Review Committee for the University and has recently been appointed by the Chancellor to serve on Vanderbilt's Equal Access Committee.

Rhonda Venable, assistant director/training director for the Psychological & Counseling Center, is involved with freshman orientation and has contributed to the diversity program. The goal of the program is to help first-year students learn early in their college life both the challenges and the opportunities of relating to a diverse student body. She reviewed research material which identified important diversity acceptance themes on the Vanderbilt campus, coordinated the gathering of related input from other campus offices, worked with a film company in developing a film and trained the Counseling Center staff to coordinate follow-up orientation discussion.

Certificates of recognition were given to the following recipients:

Vanderbilt's Minority Bridges Program, funded by the National Institutes of Health, blossomed from the earlier informal recruiting efforts of Louis J. DeFelice, professor of pharmacology and director of the Bridges Program. The program provides a path from the master's degree to the Ph.D., with the goal of increasing the number of people of color entering careers in biomedical research.

Denise Harris, third-year medical student and president of the Vanderbilt chapter of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA), has developed a strong relationship between students of the Vanderbilt and Meharry chapters of SNMA. Her efforts have resulted in improved relations between the student bodies of both schools. She assists in the recruitment of students of color to the school of medicine.

Rolanda Johnson, assistant professor of nursing, has assisted students, including those with learning disabilities, with test-taking and writing skills. On more than one occasion, Johnson has worked with students who acquire English as a second language to successfully complete the program. On her suggestion, a minority orientation program was implemented to assist new students in making a successful transition to campus life. She has assisted in minority recruitment efforts, and she serves as a student academic enhancement coordinator.

Margaret Moore has served as special assistant to the dean of Peabody College for more than 14 years. For several of those years, she has represented Peabody on the University Committee. One of her most important roles is to coordinate new faculty orientation. The handbook that she prepares for all new faculty pays particular attention to those with special needs.

Darlene Panvini, assistant director/ITAP program coordinator in the Center for Teaching, has coordinated the International Teaching Assistant Program for more than 10 years. This program, which offers support and training to dozens of international graduate students each year, has tripled the number of persons it supports. ITAP offers graduate students a combination of support in teaching, language and culture. Panvini also pioneered a student consultant component of the program that allows the graduate students to develop close working relationships with undergraduate students who are U.S.-born.

Allison Pingree, director for the Center for Teaching, has made a major impact on diversity awareness for faculty and teaching assistants in her short term at Vanderbilt. She was one of the driving forces in organizing Diversity & Equity in Teaching & Learning, which is a coalition of University departments that are interested in promoting diversity on campus. She helped co-sponsor the first speaker, Peggy McIntosh. She has recently organized teaching circles for senior and junior faculty which will focus on race and gender issues. She is a member of the University Committee on the Status of Women and Minorities.

B. Ross Scott, assistant dean of students, is primarily responsible for new student orientation programs for the University. Because of this role, he is in a unique position to promote diversity and disability issues with students as they enter into the University community. Dean Scott and his staff assure accessibility for every student to new student orientation activities, from the Freshman Picnic to arranging wheelchairs for Freshman Parents' Weekend. He also facilitates student organization/leadership development.

Pam Sevy, landscape architect for Campus Planning and Construction, was nominated for an award for her work to create an accessible University environment. In 12 years in her position, Sevy has worked to incorporate barrier-free design into campus site improvements. Examples of her work include design of the accessible main entrances to the General Library and the First Amendment Center. Sevy also was responsible for the installation of ramps on the sidewalks adjacent to Payne Hall, North Hall and the Education Library.

Richard Steinhart, director of administration at the Kennedy Center, has been an advocate for employees with disabilities at the Kennedy Center and at Peabody College. He has also been a resource for referring applicants with disabilities. In addition to employment issues, Steinhart is active in improving the accessibility to the many programs and activities of the Kennedy Center. Many aesthetic and physical improvements have been made inside and outside the Mental Retardation Building to make it a welcoming environment for all visitors to campus.

Cathleen Williams, administrative assistant in the Medical School's Office of Minority Student Affairs, has been described as an invaluable asset to school's diversity efforts. She developed the office brochure that is shared with prospective students. She represents the medical school at recruitment fairs for both the M.D. and Ph.D. program. She has organized the Mark and Bridges Programs for minority students and served as a liaison between students of color and faculty.

Cindy Young, former assistant director of programming for the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Culture Center, was a longtime mentor for many African-American students while working in the center. Young was the founder and coordinator of Rhythm and Roots, a dance ensemble whose purpose was to recapture the unique experience of African-American heritage and express that heritage through performance. As assistant director of programming, Young was responsible for coordinating the center's events for Black History Month.