May. 3, 2022
Reserve Your Place for the CWU Diversity Awards on May 11
Get your tickets now for the May 11 President's Diversity Awards on the CWU campus.
The eighth annual CWU President’s Diversity Awards will be presented Wednesday, May 11, on the Ellensburg campus, and everyone in the local community is invited.
The first in-person Diversity Awards in three years — which will also be President Jim Wohlpart’s first Diversity Awards celebration — will be held from 4:30-6:30 p.m. in the Sue Lombard Room. The event is free, but tickets are required. If you still need to reserve your spot, please visit Wildcat Tickets as soon as possible.
Kandee Cleary, CWU’s vice president of inclusivity and diversity, will host the event and will be joined by keynote speaker Tre Myers, a CWU sociology professor.
The 2022 ceremony will recognize CWU staff, faculty, students, alumni, and Ellensburg community members who have helped the university become more diverse, more equitable, and more inclusive over the years. This year’s nominees, in no particular order, are:
- Chris Bigelow, alumnus and executive director of racial and educational justice, Northshore School District
- Jim Ritter, alumnus and owner of J.S. Ritter and Associates
- Monica Miller, executive director, GalleryOne
- Kittitas Valley Math Circle
- Hope Amason, associate professor, Anthropology
- Natashia Lindsey, assistant professor, Theatre Arts
- Lucinda Carnell, professor, Biological Sciences
- CWU Police Department
- Yukari Amos, professor and department chair, Education, Development, Teaching, and Learning (EDTL)
- Gayla Blaisdell, professor, Music, Voice, and Opera
- Josue Estrada, assistant professor, History
- YoohAh Kim, staff, Korean Culture Resource Center (WLC)
- Sayantani Mukherjee, associate professor, Marketing
- Griff Tester, associate professor, Sociology
- David Gee, professor, Nutrition
- Miriam Bocchetti, Director of Grants, C.A.M.P.
- Joy Corbett, talent acquisition lead, Human Resources
- Andres Moreno, associate director of Admissions
- Kremiere Jackson, vice president of Public Affairs
- Wendy Holden, director, Disability Services
- Star Diavolikis, student, Communications
- Jaeda Nelson, student, Business
- Mariah Minjarez, student, Law & Justice and Sociology
- Kate Doughty, Farm and Sustainability manager
- Veronica Gomez-Vilchis, Human Resources business partner
- Mel Palm, regional director, CWU-Yakima and Continuing Education
- Tiffany Smith, counselor, Student Counseling Services
- Katrina Whitney, assistant director, Diversity and Equity Center
- Wendy Spacek, assistant professor, Arts and Humanities librarian
- Chad Schone, director, Multimodal Education Center
Each of the winners will be invited to deliver a brief acceptance speech after they are introduced. The ceremony will also feature the recipient of the third annual Bobby Cummings Award, named after the longtime CWU English professor.
The event, sponsored by the Office of the President and the Office of the Vice President of Inclusivity and Diversity, is part of a university-wide commitment to building a more diverse, more inclusive campus community. The awards ceremony was introduced in 2015 to help the university celebrate, honor, and understand differences, become more welcoming, and ensure true access by providing equity of opportunity.
If you have questions about the 2022 President’s Diversity Awards, email Sarah Scott in the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity.
Media Contact: David Leder, Department of Public Affairs, David.Leder@cwu.edu, 509-963-1518