LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 18, 2020) — The University of Kentucky Office for Institutional Diversity recognized a student, faculty member and college department recently with the 2020 Inclusive Excellence Recognition Awards.

“Creating inclusive excellence throughout our campus community requires us to work in collaboration with each other,” said Sonja Feist-Price, UK vice president for institutional diversity. “We have students, faculty, staff and academic and professional units that give of themselves beyond what anyone would ask or expect. And they do so because of their love for our campus community, and because they recognize what it takes to become a university where everyone, irrespective of identity or perspective, feels a sense of belonging.”

The Inclusive Excellence Recognition winners exemplify characteristics of: building awareness and understanding in the name of diversity and inclusion; creating leadership opportunities; sponsoring or actively promoting programs, initiatives or projects in the area of diversity and inclusion; and collaborating with others in sponsorship, development and implementation of projects or programs in the area of diversity and inclusion.

The 2020 winners are:

  • Jean Branttie — graduate student, College of Medicine Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry;
  • Kevin Pearson — faculty, College of Medicine Department of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences; and
  • Office of Diversity, College of Agriculture, Food and Environment — college/department/unit.

These awards are usually presented in the spring during a joint ceremony with the Provost’s Outstanding Teaching Awards. The April ceremony was canceled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The University of Kentucky is increasingly the first choice for students, faculty and staff to pursue their passions and their professional goals. In the last two years, Forbes has named UK among the best employers for diversity, and INSIGHT into Diversity recognized us as a Diversity Champion three years running. UK is ranked among the top 30 campuses in the nation for LGBTQ* inclusion and safety. UK has been judged a “Great College to Work for" two years in a row, and UK is among only 22 universities in the country on Forbes' list of "America's Best Employers."  We are ranked among the top 10 percent of public institutions for research expenditures — a tangible symbol of our breadth and depth as a university focused on discovery that changes lives and communities. And our patients know and appreciate the fact that UK HealthCare has been named the state’s top hospital for four straight years. Accolades and honors are great. But they are more important for what they represent: the idea that creating a community of belonging and commitment to excellence is how we honor our mission to be not simply the University of Kentucky, but the University for Kentucky.

This story originally appeared on UKNow.

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