The Presidential Commission on the Status of Minorities (PCSM) would like to invite current students, faculty, supportive professional staff or civil service staff, and academic units, offices, programs or organizations to nominate an outstanding student, faculty or staff member at Northern Illinois University for the McKinley “Deacon” Davis Diversity Award. This award recognizes significant contributions made to the improvement of the status of ethnic minorities on NIU’s campus.
The PCSM will give four awards this year, one award is specifically designated for a student. The award recipients will be honored at the PCSM diversity summit on Wednesday, April 26. The nomination deadline for the McKinley “Deacon” Davis Diversity Award is Friday, April 14.
The diversity and inclusion summit entitled, “Diversity: Women of Color on the NIU Campus and in the Community,” will focus on African-American and Latina Women. The summit is intended to bring together students, staff, faculty and members of the community to look at critical issues women of color face on the NIU campus and in the community — particularly in these political times — and to develop strategies to address issues of concern.
Formerly known as the Friendship Abloom Luncheon, the Diversity and Inclusion Summit will begin at noon in the Ellington Room of the Holmes Student Center with a luncheon, a welcome and presentation of the Deacon Davis Awards at 12:30 p.m., followed by a speaker at 1 p.m. and a diversity roundtable discussion on men of color on the NIU campus from 1-2 p.m. Later in the evening, from 6-8 p.m., there will be a speaker and student panel on the issues women of color face on the NIU campus and in the DeKalb community and solutions to address these concerns.
Students, staff, faculty and members of the community are invited to attend all or part of the summit. Please RSVP by Monday, April 17, to pcsm@niu.edu, indicate if you will attend the luncheon and afternoon or/and evening session. For more information, contact Felicia R. Bohanon at 815-753-1868 or fbohanon@niu.edu.
