Inclusive Excellence, Justice & Liberation Award

Past Recipients

2023    Bedford Palmer II, Counseling

2022    Rebecca Anguiano, Counseling

2021    Denise Witzig, Women's and Gender Studies & Robin Dunn, Kinesiology

2020    Myrna Santiago, History

2019    Gloria Sosa, Counseling

Purpose

The Inclusive Excellence, Justice & Liberation Award is to recognize faculty members who have demonstrated exceptional effort and intellectual leadership to promote and foster the Lasallian principles - respect for all persons, inclusive community, concern for the poor and social justice -through service, research, and/or teaching. Inclusive excellence, justice and liberation are deemed to include: 1) humanization of all people: Honoring and championing the dignity of all individuals; 2) critically conscious inclusive community building: Celebrating our differences and welcoming all members to our community, while recognizing and reducing systems that reproduce inequality (impactful change-making and social action: initiating projects that expose, critique, and dismantle structural inequities as well as centering the voices of marginalized populations); and 3) working in solidarity with the historically disenfranchised and oppressed and advocating for those suffering from injustices.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the Inclusive Excellence, Justice & Liberation Award, an individual must:

1. Be a faculty member (tenured, tenure-track, salaried, or per-course adjuncts) with at least one year of experience at Saint Mary’s College;
2. Not have received this award within the past 10 years.

Nomination Process

• Nominations for this award may come from SMC faculty, Chairs, and/or Deans. (Self-nominations are also allowed.) 
• The strongest candidates for this award will not only exemplify these community principles themselves, but also inspire others and create a demonstrable impact on the campus community.
• A nomination submission describing how the nominee meets the selection criteria and updated C.V.
   

Nomination Deadline

Nomination period has closed.

Selection Process

The Director of Faculty Development and the Committee on Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship constitute the selection committee based on the criteria listed below. The award recipient will be announced at the Scholar’s Reception in March 15th, 2024.

Selection Criteria

Nominations will be reviewed using the following three criteria:

• Respect for all persons: Inspires others to cultivate attitudes and demonstrate behaviors that recognize and show respect for the inherent dignity of all people.
• Inclusive community: Helps foster a campus environment that welcomes and values all people, that centers the voices of marginalized communities, and that brings critical attention to and actively integrates the perspectives, worldviews, and experiences of marginalized people to create a critically conscious and inclusive community.
• Concern for the Poor and Social Justice: Initiates projects that expose, critique, and dismantle structural inequities and systems that reproduce inequality, poverty, and social injustice.

Form of Award

Each award recipient will receive a certificate and monetary award to be used at the recipient’s discretion. A permanent plaque listing annual award recipients will be on display in the Academic Affairs Library. If there are no suitable candidates in a given year, the award will be withheld.