The 2007 recipients of the Peter W. Likins Inclusive Excellence Award have been announced. The awards have been given in the following three categories:
Faculty Recipients:
George H. Davis, former Provost and Executive Vice President for Student Affairs Learn More
Maria Teresa Velez, Associate Dean, Graduate Learn More School of Media Arts Learn More Learn More
Staff Recipients:
Amanda Kraus, Coordinator for Graduate and International Housing, Residence Life Learn More
elMundo Diversity Initiatives, Residence Learn More
Student Recipients:
Public Health Student Alliance Learn More
Project EXPORT Fellows
Global Health Student Alliance
George H. Davis, former Provost and Executive Vice President for Student Affairss
George H. Davis states the following:
My designation celebrates partnership in commitment, courage, and action across the spectrum of administrative and shared governance leadership of The University of Arizona, community advisory groups, and ABOR. To be sure, The Office of the Provost is an essential ‘driver’ to sustained institutional transformation in relation to diversity and inclusiveness, but attainments derive only through close working relation with others. In broad partnership, UA leadership advocated institutional diversity goals in ways mission-inseparable from becoming more competitive in recruitment and retention, and improving learning and research environments. What I experienced in my years as Provost was a transparently broadened understanding of diversity and inclusiveness as a part of institutional excellence. UA’s institutional rhetoric and practices must not communicate a divided (and divisive) path of excellence and/or diversity!
My own path of learning and action while serving as Provost was powerfully influenced by remarkable grassroots efforts initiated and developed by women and persons of color from faculty, staff, and professional ranks; powerful yet fundamentally constructive advocacy for accountability by internal and external constituency groups; committed demonstrative leadership in recruitment and retention practices by certain model deans; dogged efforts on the part of vice provosts and HR leadership to improve institutional personnel practices; and drawing upon the wisdom and experience of invited consultants. For me, when all is said and done, the ‘simple’ roadmap (framed by MROC) is written thusly: DIVERITY, HOSPITABLENESS, FAIRNESS. When collectively we have our eyes on these, there is much that falls into place.
Maria Teresa Velez, Associate Dean, Graduate College
MARIA TERESA VELEZ, Ph.D. has worked at The University of Arizona for the past 23 years, where diversity has been her passion.
As Director of Counseling and Testing Services, Dr. Velez helped lead the first UA efforts to diversify the student body. She hired a highly diverse group of psychologists, reached out to minority and LGBT students, and trained the Office of Minority Student Affairs peer staff.
In 1996, she became an Associate Dean in the Graduate College where she has doubled the number of minority graduate students, currently 20.8% of the graduate student body. She accomplished this by developing intensive research and support programs for underrepresented undergraduates, extensive recruitment, and over 200 full and partial fellowships per year dedicated to diversity. Retention has also been a strong focus through tutoring, a Summer Writing Institute, funds for travel, final project and special opportunities, a Ph.D. Completion Program and, recently, an NSF grant to help Native Americans complete dissertations. To support these efforts, Dr. Velez has garnered over 16 Million from the federal government and private foundations.
Dr. Velez served as the first vice-president of the UA Commission on the Status of Women, is a member of the ADVANCE working group, the President’s Diversity Coalition, the President’s Native American Advisory Board and steering committees of six major grants that foster UA diversity in science and engineering. Dr. Velez has served on many national boards advancing diversity including the Council of Graduate Schools’ Minority Advisory Board and the GRE Board’s MGE Committee.
The School of Media Arts
The School of Media arts, previously known as the Department of Media, offers undergraduate degrees in Aesthetics and Criticism, and Producing, Film and Video Production, and a MA in History, Theory and Criticism. The School seeks to educate students who desire to bring about change and better understanding of the world through the arts of media. Media arts is one of the most diverse and inclusive programs in the College of Fine Arts with a large population of students of color, faculty that represent diverse expertise and cultural perspectives, and programs that promote the investigation of issues related to inclusion.
Students and faculty have received awards and recognition for their contributions to issues of diversity. BFA student Roberto Gudiño produced two social justice documentaries: “Just Coffee” documents families earning a living in Mexico through an organic coffee cooperative, and “Below the Fold” tells the story of the first Latino journalists to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1984. Other successful student work that give voice to cultural diversity include; “The Moon Princess,” Priscilla Hefley’s personal documentary about being adopted from China, and “Lulee,” Rachel Thomas’ romantic comedy about a quirky Eurasian co-ed.
Faculty demonstrate ongoing leadership involvement in Lesbian Looks, Puro Mexicano, the Jewish Film Festival, and Native Youth Media, and have screened their work at Gay and Lesbian, Black, Latino, and Asian American film festivals. In addition, Media Arts in partnership with The Hanson Film Institute, helps support the Latino Producers Academy™, an annual program of The National Association of Latino Independent Producers conducted in Tucson.
Amanda Kraus, Coordinator for Graduate and International Housing, Residence Life
Amanda Kraus is the Coordinator for Graduate and International Student Housing for Residence Life. After completing her BA in Social History at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA in 2001, Amanda moved to the University of Arizona to begin graduate school at the Center for the Study of Higher Education where she received her MA in 2003 and continued on to the doctoral program. Amanda is currently a doctoral candidate and is writing her dissertation: Social and political influences on student identity: Disabled students' self-concepts. Through her research, she hopes to justify the need for a disability identity development model and give voice to the experience of disabled students.
Amanda served as the co-chair and interim chair for Residence Life’s El Mundo Diversity Initiatives committee from fall of 2005 through spring 2007, where she coordinated the Tunnel of Oppression and other campus-wide events. Amanda has been a member of the University’s Diversity Coalition and has co-chaired the President’s Council on Disability since 2006. Amanda is an alumna of the Social Justice Training Institute and the Summer Institute on Intercultural Communication. She has facilitated various workshops for the YWCA of Tucson over the past few years and served on the Spring 2007 Grant Round Panel for the Community Foundation of Southern Arizona. Additionally, Amanda has instructed and served as a teaching assistant for undergraduate and graduate classes in the Center for the Study of Higher Education.
Amanda is truly honored to be a recipient of the Peter W. Likins Inclusive Excellence Award
elMundo Diversity Initiatives
The mission of Residence Life’s elMundo Diversity Initiativesis to create and support safe, fun and dynamic communities where all members develop personal responsibility, are positively engaged, feel a sense of belonging and the communities reflect authentic relationships where students are free to share, learn and grow. Specifically, elMundo strives to “raise student and staff awareness levels about diversity and social justice.”
Believing that cross-cultural and intercultural experiences enrich residence hall communities, elMundo provides both staff and students with quality programming designed to develop multicultural competency. While the program works to create a more welcoming and supportive climate within the residence halls and on campus by exposing students to the rich diversity of our community, elMundo goes beyond traditional “food, fun and fiesta” cultural programming to ensure the campus is educated about issues of social justice and societal inequity. By highlighting the diversity omni-present on our campus to the residential student population and campus community at large, elMundo encourages diverse perspectives by pushing students to broaden their personal understanding and to challenge ideas. Old ideas or beliefs are challenged regularly and students are pushed to think critically about what they thought they knew and what they have learned.
Some of elMundo’sdiversity initiatives include the annual Diva La Paz Drag Show, the Hunger Banquet, Put Yourself in Her Shoes, and the Tunnel of Oppression. Each of these initiatives involves the entire campus community and addresses a broad spectrum of social justice issues.
Public Health Student Alliance
The Public Health Student Alliance (PHSA), representing all students at the UA Zuckerman College of Public Health, was selected as the student organization recipient of the 2006-2007 Peter W. Likins Inclusive Excellence Award.
Through their community service and social justice efforts, the following MEZCOPH student groups demonstrated dedication to increasing cultural knowledge and awareness by organizing at least three events this year.
More than 150 people attended the Social Justice Symposium, which helped participants gain a deeper understanding of social and racial inequities and their relationships to health outcomes. It also created an opportunity to discuss the need for and benefits of a more inclusive research agenda. Key EXPORT Fellowcoordinators of the Symposium were Selena Ortiz, Jerry Simmons, MPH Candidates and Rachel Rivera Paz, a MS candidate.
In the Diversity Fashion Show, faculty, staff and students worked together to create an engaging event that would help showcase and celebrate the cultural diversity of the College. Public Health Student Alliance organizers of this event included Ada Dieke, Gail Bradfordand Lubna Shaikh.
The Border Deaths Conference, a symposium to recognize border deaths at the U.S.-Mexico border as a major public health crisis, was organized by Global Health Student Alliance membersAnne Hill, Bryna Koch, Terry Marsh. The conference brought together a diverse panel of experts, faculty, and students gathered to discuss the hazards of border crossing and the impact of border deaths on individuals, families, and communities. As a result, the GHA crafted guidelines to be shared with other public health institutions, colleges, and community-serving organizations to develop their own policy statements regarding border deaths.
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George H. Davis states the following: 
MARIA TERESA VELEZ, Ph.D. has worked at The University of Arizona for the past 23 years, where diversity has been her passion. 
The School of Media arts, previously known as the Department of Media, offers undergraduate degrees in Aesthetics and Criticism, and Producing, Film and Video Production, and a MA in History, Theory and Criticism. The School seeks to educate students who desire to bring about change and better understanding of the world through the arts of media. Media arts is one of the most diverse and inclusive programs in the College of Fine Arts with a large population of students of color, faculty that represent diverse expertise and cultural perspectives, and programs that promote the investigation of issues related to inclusion. 
Amanda Kraus is the Coordinator for Graduate and International Student Housing for Residence Life. After completing her BA in Social History at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA in 2001, Amanda moved to the University of Arizona to begin graduate school at the Center for the Study of Higher Education where she received her MA in 2003 and continued on to the doctoral program. Amanda is currently a doctoral candidate and is writing her dissertation: Social and political influences on student identity: Disabled students' self-concepts. Through her research, she hopes to justify the need for a disability identity development model and give voice to the experience of disabled students. 
