Cordova earns President’s Diversity Award

Anthony Cordova, director, Office of Multicultural Student Access, Inclusiveness and Community, will receive a 2012 President’s Diversity Award during a special reception scheduled for 2:30 p.m. May 9 at 1800 Grant, Denver.

The President’s Diversity Award recognizes faculty and staff members and departments that make significant achievements toward developing a more culturally diverse, competent and inclusive university community.

Cordova, has made a difference in student recruitment, retention, campus climate and community outreach through his leadership efforts. He has worked with admissions to enroll students with high potential who didn’t meet the admissions standards and provides invaluable mentorship to each student to ensure their success at UCCS. He has played a pivotal role in the development of MOSAIC and the CU Opportunity Program and has been deeply engaged with campus diversity issues through his involvement with the Faculty Minority Affairs Committee, the Diversity Alliance Staff Committee, the Diversity Strategic Planning organizing task force, the Inclusive Campus Action Team and the Diversity Foundations Committee. Beyond the university community, Cordova has forged lasting relationships with the Latino Youth Conference and the African-American Youth Conference. He has worked closely with the Pueblo Hispanic Education Fund, where a scholarship was created in honor of his parents.

Others who will be recognized include:

Sharon Vieyra, office manager at the Office of Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement at CU-Boulder. She is described as being an agent of influence and impact within her department, providing more than 15 years of experience and knowledge in diversity work within the CU-Boulder and Boulder communities. Her thoughtfulness and attentiveness to community matters has helped ODECE become better engaged with the university community. Outside of the university, Sharon has volunteered for the CU Hispanic Alumni Association for 15 years, raising funds for scholarships. She also has volunteered with the Boulder County Latina Women’s League for seven years, mentoring young Latinas entering higher education.

David Boromisza-Habashi, assistant professor in the Department of Communication at CU-Boulder. Boromisza-Habashi taught a course that included a section where first-year students engaged in dialogue with CU-Boulder’s custodial staff. This section increased students’ understanding of the perspective of custodial staff and resulted in the creation of a “Student Code of Conduct Toward Custodial Staff.” Students have enthusiastically responded to the project, posting the code throughout each wing of Buckingham Hall. In addition, the project has been selected for inclusion in a photographic exhibit produced by The Milestones Project and sponsored by the Colorado Conflict Resolution Month. The exhibit will be displayed at the State Capitol or Civic Center in October, followed by a tour of the state.

The Program for Writing and Rhetoric, CU-Boulder. PWR is one of very few units that has a clear curricular mandate for diversity. It offers lower-division courses with diverse reading themes and upper-division topics encompassing a wide range of diversity topics: queer rhetorics, women writers, rhetoric of faith, spirituality, cross-cultural writing and film, feminism and motherhood, race, class, gender and more. The department implements diversity in course offerings as a matter of instructional value to encourage these topics as a natural way of thinking and behaving in the CU community. Besides diversity curriculum in courses, the PWR offers Service Learning courses that promote and provide service to organizations such as a homeless shelter, the Red Cross and other agencies. In March 2012, the department sponsored and organized the annual Undergraduate Diversity Conference, “Normalizing Inclusion.” The conference promoted dialogue on diversity issues, enhanced openness and respect in the campus climate, and showcased PWR student writings on diversity-related topics.

 — Jay Dedrick, University Relations, CU System