A faculty member and three administrators have been honored by the College Student Personnel Association of New York State (CSPA-NYS) for their efforts to promote social justice. The awards were announced at the organization’s annual conference, held in early October in Rochester.
Cynthia Henderson, associate professor of theater arts, was presented with the Outstanding Contribution to Social Justice Award. Deborah Mohlenhoff, assistant director for community service and leadership development; John Rawlins, assistant director of multicultural affairs; and Doreen Hettich-Atkins, coordinator of special services and programs, were each honored with the Outstanding Social Justice Innovation Award.
The College Student Personnel Association is a comprehensive professional student affairs organization dedicated to fostering the development of its members, who constitute a diverse community of educators, students, and scholars within higher education.
Henderson was recognized for making a significant contribution to the lives of some local students and to the wider Ithaca community over the past year. After Ithaca High School was shaken by a variety of racial conflicts, Henderson worked with a small group of students from both the high school and the college to produce a theatrical piece entitled "Voice Suspended" that they presented throughout the area. The students learned to write, direct, rehearse, design stages and art, and to work together as a team to produce an amazing piece of work that has been used to help the Ithaca community recognize its challenges and move toward social justice.
This work is just one recent aspect of Henderson's activism. She has served as a Fulbright scholar in Cameroon, Africa, and continues to support AIDS education and activism in that country. A member of Ithaca College committees on AIDS awareness, Black History Month planning, and diversity awareness, she serves as a mentor and confidant to underrepresented students on campus.
Mohlenhoff, Rawlins, and Hettich-Atkins were recognized for their work in managing a committee of volunteers charged with planning and coordinating Ithaca College's 2008 Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration. For the first time in its history, the college this past year canceled classes for MLK Day, the first day that students return from winter break. The committee was charged with putting together a campus-wide series of events that would adequately represent and celebrate King's life and legacy and would be engaging enough to encourage students to participate in what was billed as a "Day On, Not a Day Off."
The events included a keynote address by rapper and activist MC Lyte, service projects at nearly a dozen off-campus agencies, educational presentations and discussions by faculty, a performance of "Voice Suspended" by local high school students, an interactive theater piece written and performed by the Ithaca College MLK Scholars, and a concert coordinated by the School of Music.
Any concerns about possible lack of student participation were erased throughout the day, as the events were an overwhelming success. Due to the positive response, the college will keep to the schedule of not holding classes on MLK Day.
