Excellence in Diversity Award winners recognized during virtual ceremony

Michigan State University honored the 2020-21 Excellence in Diversity Award winners on Feb. 24 through a virtual ceremony. John Beck, associate professor in the School of Human Resources and Labor Relations, and Deborah Johnson, professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies and director of the Diversity Research Network, co-moderated the event that first launched in 1990. Additionally, President Samuel L. Stanley Jr. and Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer Jabbar Bennett gave remarks.

The award recognizes individuals, teams, units and organizations that have performed above and beyond and demonstrate outstanding leadership and creativity in the area of diversity. This year the selection team received 19 submissions.

Each spring, the Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives announces award recipients. This year's honorees include:

Individual Award: Emerging Progress

Amber Benton, director of diversity programming and student engagement, James Madison College

Laura Scales, academic specialist, Department of Theatre in the College of Arts and Letters

Quentin Tyler, associate dean and director for the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources

Individual Award: Sustained Efforts toward Excellence in Diversity

Susan Ewart, professor, Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences

Individual Award: Lifetime Achievement

Dave Weatherspoon, professor, Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics, and associate dean of undergraduate studies in the Office of the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education

Team Award: Emerging Progress

Jessica Stokes and Michael Stokes, HIVES Research Workshop and Speaker Series

Latinx Film Festival

Team Award: Sustained Efforts toward Excellence in Diversity

BEACON Center for the study of Evolution in Action

Organization Award: Excellent Progress toward Advancing Diversity within Community

American Economic Association Summer Program

The ceremony in its entirety, including honorees’ remarks, can be viewed here.