UW honors its outstadning women of color
UW System Outstanding Women of Color in Education awardees with Current Recipient Linda Green (Center) (l-r) Linda Stilt, Mercile Lee, Greene, Semma Kapari, Hazel Symonette, and Alberta Gloria
by Pamela Gates
On April 7, University of Wisconsin-Madison Assistant Vice Provost for Diversity and Climate Ruby Paredes and Vice Chancellor for Administration Darrell Bazzell presented the first annual UW-Madison Outstanding Women of Color awards to six accomplished women, all of whom value their capacity to serve as one of their most outstanding qualities. It certainly was a common thread in the reasons each was selected to receive the honor. In addition, the reception honored Professor Linda Greene, the 13th woman to receive the UW System’s annual Outstanding Woman of Color in Education award.
Jackie DeWalt, director of the UW’s PEOPLE program (Pre-College Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence), which puts and keeps disadvantaged youth on the pre-college track, is “an inspiration and role model for women and men, girls and boys, with a level of attentiveness and intelligence that makes what she does so creative and adored. … She is a major change agent!” Paredes read from DeWalt’s nomination letter. “… Like so many African American women before her, Jackie DeWalt works largely in obscurity while touching hundreds of lives.” In her brief acceptance remarks, DeWalt used the metaphor of a big yellow school bus to describe her work, herself in the driver’s seat, surrounded by all the other components [people] critical to the bus getting to its destination in one piece.
Laura Klunder, manager of Kronshage Hall-Holt Commons residence hall, “… is an untiring advocate for women, particularly women of color, as well as all oppressed groups and identities,” Paredes read from Klunder’s nomination letter. “She reaches out to help educate her peers … on social justice, campus climate, and intergroup relations. … Laura voices her opinion, asks questions, and presses people to think deeply about these issues. She is a co-creator and co-facilitator of the experiential learning course for students seeking educational equity and diversity (SEED), work to which she brings passion, valuable insights, and carefully considered views.” Since her nomination, Klunder has earned a master’s degree in social work (MSW) and continues to lead efforts in achieving social justice and multicultural education, Paredes said.
Susana Lastarria-Cornhiel, a senior research scientist in Urban and Regional Planning at the UW-Madison, has focused on land rights for women. Paredes read quotes from a Seattle University School of Law colleague: “Susana’s research and writing on women’s land rights in Central and South America and the former Soviet Union encouraged donors like USAID and the World Bank to critically examine their land projects and the impact on poor women and women of color all over the world. [She] was one of the first to talk about women’s land rights in the context of women’s place in the family and community.” And from a University of California-Irvine colleague: “… From her professional work in international policymaking to her daily interactions with individuals, she truly embodies the values of this … award.”
Mary Layoun is a UW professor of comparative literature. Paredes quoted a colleague’s nomination letter: “[Her] research on migration, gender, race, and culture [has] been a model and inspiration to me. … Her scholarship greatly advances feminist thinking and scholarship in studies of migration and post-coloniality. … Her work in making the university a more hospitable place for people of color and for women of color in particular is evident.”
As a professor of comparative literature, Layoun accepted her nomination by reading a poem that gives voice to her work: “Cross That Line” by Naomi Shihab Nye. Nye uses the figure of Paul Robeson “singing into Canada” but not being able to cross the line into Canada and asks: “What lines should we all be crossing?” Layoun — and all the other women receiving this award —ask that same question in their lives and work and lead others to ask it as well.
Norma Saldivar, a UW-Madison associate professor of theater and drama and of Chicana and Latina studies, “creates new theatrical work that focuses on women’s struggles with gender bias, class, and economic freedom,” Paredes read. She “inspires students to find their own voice … to trust their instincts and use those instincts to develop an effect.” She encourages students to explore and develop their own relationship to cultural and artistic avenues of challenging discussion of controversial issues.” Saldivar is also interim director of the UW-Madison’s Arts Institute. “I enjoy being busy and making a contribution to the university,” Saldivar says, voicing, as Layoun and the others did, the concept of service, of supporting and nurturing others, as a great personal value.
Patricia Tellez-Giron, a clinical assistant professor of Family Medicine in the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, “has sponsored a curriculum of cultural awareness and competence for medical students, helping them broaden their understanding of cultural issues, particularly those affecting Madison and south central Wisconsin’s fast-growing Latino community. Her work with prevention, outreach, and health assessment in the Latina/o community and with the Latino Health Council are exemplary, Paredes noted. She is described as “a remarkable young doctor,” a “wonderful colleague,” and “a confident teacher who has grown in her ability to influence the community, the Medical School, and the region, [especially in] our care for an increasingly culturally diverse patient population.” Patricia’s sister, Teresa, accepted the award on her behalf.
Professor Molly Carnes introduced UW Evjue-Bascom Professor of Law Linda Greene, who was honored with the 13th annual UW System Outstanding Woman of Color award. Carnes said she was happy to observe that Wisconsin wasn’t populated solely by Norwegian lutefisk eaters and that UW-Green Bay, too, was multicultural in its staff and student body makeup.
Greene, who has a lengthy list of leadership and service accomplishments, positions, and honors, was described as “truly a gifted strategist and transformational leader [who] has the vision of where the institution ought to be going and the knowledge, skills, and drive to steer that institution … to be more diverse, to be more inclusive, to have a climate that nurtures and supports students, staff, and faculty to achieve their full potential.”
In her brief acceptance speech, Greene expressed her “profound hope that we’ll continue to reach down and find talent in this country. The only way we can continue to be great is through education. … We need to find a way to make our university big enough for the world that is becoming … Think about the talent we miss when we fail to give opportunities to women of color at this university and beyond. … We need to make this university available to all.”
Charging everyone with carrying out that mission, Greene told her audience that we must all consider: “What talent have I missed?” and then going about rectifying that oversight. That is what all these Outstanding Women of Color award recipients do, all the time.
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