“Over the past several days, I have been giving a lot of thought to the irony of celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the legacy he left to the Civil Rights and Human Rights movements while at the same time our nation’s dialogue has revolved around the language that was used to describe the ancestral homelands of many Americans. It has at times angered, disheartened, and disillusioned me. However, as we prepared for tonight’s event, I did not allow myself to feel those emotions for long.’’
That’s how Carolyn Lanier, NEOMED’s chief of staff and vice president of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, opened the recent 2018 Value Community and Diversity Reception presented by Andre Burton, executive director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at NEOMED.
The event was a time for Burton to reflect on institutional accomplishments of the past year, such as the I Am Diversity initiatives, as well as progress in the University’s global engagement program and University-wide diversity competency training—not to mention the launch of the Women in NEOMED Employee Resource Group.
Julie Aultman, Ph.D., professor of Family and Community Medicine, became the new chair of NEOMED’s Diversity Council in December 2017. Dr. Aultman joined Andre Burton in reading nominations for the accomplished students who were competing for two prizes: The Walgreens Pharmacy Diversity & Inclusion Excellence Award and the Community Builder Award.
Summing up the community-minded spirit of the evening, Dr. Aultman voiced a question made famous by Martin Luther King Jr.: “What are you doing for others?’’
In the case of these students, the list is long.
2017-2018 Walgreens Pharmacy Diversity & Inclusion Excellence Award (for pharmacy students)
Nominees:
Charles Dorflinger (P4)
Adib Farran (P1)
Trevor Jones (P4)
Valerie Pfaff (P1)
WINNER:
Charles Dorflinger (P4)
2017-2018 Community Builder (Award (for a medicine, pharmacy or graduate student)
Nominees:
Haley Coleman (M3) (shown in photo with Carolyn Lanier and Andre Burton, accepting the award)
Jashan Jabbaar-Hill (M2)
Joy Ogunmuyiwa (M3)
Pallavi Sharma (M3)
Sibley Strader (M4) (shown on screen above)
Laura Yeater (M2)
CO-WINNERS:
Haley Coleman (M3) and Sibley Strader (M4)