When recognizing the winners of Case Western Reserve University’s Diversity Achievement Awards, Vice President Robert Solomon made another announcement: The Office for Inclusion, Diversity and Equal Opportunity would officially change its name.
The new name—the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusive Engagement—is “more reflective of our proactive work, which enlivens our community, culture, climate and curriculum,” Solomon said. The office previously went by the initialism “OIDEO;” moving forward, this is a practice Solomon and his team want to avoid, instead encouraging others to say the words and “think critically about our values of diversity, equity and inclusion.”
Much of the office’s focus has shifted since Solomon took the helm in 2020. Now, the Office of Equity handles investigations and compliance-related matters, and Solomon’s team instead focuses on the “richness of diversity in the broadest sense,” he said. “We strive for equity among all members of our community and embrace inclusiveness, which motivates us to be engaged with one another in authentic and genuine ways.”
One such example? The 2022–23 Annual Diversity Achievement Awards Luncheon held on May 10, from noon to 1:30 p.m., at the Linsalata Alumni Center's Foster Castele-Great Hall, which recognized and celebrated individuals and organizations across Case Western Reserve that promote diversity and inclusion.
This year’s winners were:
- Undergraduate Student Diversity Excellence Award: Aja Leatherwood
- Graduate/Professional Student Diversity Excellence Award: Christopher Rhoades
- Staff Diversity Excellence Award: Malana C. Bey
- Faculty Diversity Excellence Award: Ann W. Nguyen
- Department/Office/Unit Diversity Excellence Award: University Technology – [U]Tech
- Senior Leadership Diversity Excellence Award: Monica Yepes-Rios, MD
- Collaboration Diversity Excellence Award: Student Affairs DEI Committee
- Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusive Engagement Excellence Award: Lou Stark
Nguyen was nominated by Mandel School PhD alumna Weidi Qin, and a committee of Case Western Reserve members who are engaged in diversity, equity, and inclusion work selected her to receive this award.
In addition, a poster Nguyen presented at the Spring Alzheimer's Disease Research Center Meeting in Washington, D.C. earlier this month was awarded the ADRC REC Rising Star Award. The poster was co-authored with Karen Lincoln, Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health and Director of the Center for Environmental Health Disparities Research at the University of California, Irvine, and is titled, Social network typology and cognitive status among Black Americans: Findings from the Health and Retirement Study.
Learn more about the event, award categories and previous award winners.
This story appeared in The Daily on May 23, 2023.