BLOOMINGTON – The Bloomington Faculty Council has selected the five recipients of the 2022 Indiana University Inclusive Excellence Award.
The council’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee created the award in 2021 to recognize faculty who contribute to the continued enhancement of a diverse campus community in accordance with IU Bloomington’s Statement on Diversity. The annual award acknowledges faculty who foster more inclusive spaces, programs, and processes on the IU Bloomington campus.
Sylvia Martinez, co-chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, said such recognition is essential.
“We know that many faculty on campus engage in diversity, equity and inclusion work, be it via research, artistic, teaching and/or service endeavors, but this work can sometimes be invisible,” Martinez said.
The 2022 recipients are:
Raquel Anderson
Raquel Anderson is a professor and director of STEPS in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences.
“The award is humbling, as we pursue this work because it needs to be done, not for recognition,” Anderson said. “It also validates the work I have done all my years at IU, especially in support of diverse students, and in support of the greater Latinx community, who are not only the focus of my research and service endeavors but who are my community.”
Colin Johnson
Colin Johnson is an associate professor of gender studies and American studies in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Johnson said receiving the award is a great honor and a wonderful affirmation of both his own work and the campus’s genuine commitment to recognizing and valuing diversity efforts.
“I think the widespread recognition that DEIJ work is truly essential to the campus’s ability to meet its obligations to students and society is a much more recent development; the very existence of this award is a strong testament to that positive change in our collective sensibility,” Johnson said.
Mary Murphy
Mary Murphy is the Herman B Wells Endowed Professor and a professor of psychological and brain sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Murphy researches the structural and behavioral factors shaping an institution’s ability to transform itself for equity and inclusion, analyzing the role of faculty, administrators, and staff in creating inclusive, growth-minded cultures through their policies, practices, and interactions with students.
“These inclusive cultures shape the motivation, engagement, persistence, and performance of all students, but they have disproportionately positive impacts on students from structurally disadvantaged groups, including racial and ethnic minority students, first-generation students, transfer students, and women students in STEM contexts,” Murphy said.
Amrita Myers
Amrita Myers is the Ruth N. Halls Associate Professor in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of History and Department of Gender Studies.
Myers said her work as an archival historian and community organizer gives her life purpose.
“To have the opportunity to educate people, both on and off-campus, about issues like structural racism, white supremacy, anti-Blackness, and misogynoir, using a variety of tools and methods, is both a privilege and a responsibility,” Myers said. “For me, what I do is much more than a job, and it’s not something that I ever take lightly.”
Amanda Rutherford
Amanda Rutherford is an associate professor and director of the undergraduate honors program in the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
“I hope to motivate my colleagues and students to set personal and professional goals that challenge them in new ways,” Rutherford said. “I also aim to meet each individual exactly where they are so that they know they are valued and can build a sense of belonging in their time on campus.”
IU Bloomington Provost and Executive Vice President Rahul Shrivastav and IU Vice President for Research Fred Cate provide funding for the annual award, which this year includes a $3,000 stipend for each honoree.
Research, creative activity, teaching, mentoring, or service contributions are all eligible to be recognized through the award. Nominations may be made by faculty, staff, and students, with self-nominations welcomed. The Bloomington Faculty Council’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee will review nominations and select the honorees annually.
“There are many others who do so much to foster inclusive excellence on this campus,” Murphy said. “What could be more important than creating a climate where everyone feels that they belong, are valued and respected, and that they can be successful here at IU? When we think about what it takes to create an inclusive culture here at IU, it’s on us — the culture creators of our classrooms and of our institutions. It is in what we say and do, our practices and policies, that causally shape students’ outcomes and trajectories through college.”
The next call for nominations will be announced at a later date.
INFORMATION: IU BLOOMINGTON TODAY by Ronda Stogsdill is a project manager in the Office of the Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion.
