2020 Award Winners
Faculty Winner
Robert Tappan, PhD, Associate Professor, Philosophy and Religious Studies
Dr. Tappan ensures his students receive a quality education. He makes all course materials
accessible to students with visual and physical impairments and works with others
on and off campus to provide students with course materials. Dr. Tappan always welcomed
students in his classes regardless of the accessibility challenges. For an assigned
class video, Dr. Tappan took initiative, and in collaboration with other students,
revised the transcript so that students who were visually impaired could fully experience
the film.
Dr. Tappan also advocated to help make a graphic novel accessible, working with Accessibility
and Disability Services to affect the change and ensuring accessibility to audio description
for multiple films. He proactively reaches out to authors and publishers in an attempt
to obtain accessible Word files for assigned readings.
As one student said, “No student should be told they cannot take a course and Dr.
Tappan will always work with students ensuring a quality education is gained within
his courses”. Dr. Tappan efforts for making all of his courses diverse and inclusive
through engaging discussions, self-initiation, and increasing accessibility is a gold
standard.
Faculty Honorable Mention: Tavia La Follette, Ph.D., Department of Theatre Arts
Staff Winner
Dena Barnwell, Auxiliary Services
Dena has been active in both the Black Faculty and Staff Association (BFSA) and the
Women Faculty and Staff Association (WFSA) as a member and Executive Board representative.
She has simultaneously acted as event planner, programs coordinator, secretary and
membership outreach representative. Dena has organized and led many health workshops
for the BFSA which included presenting on work-life balance and tangible ways to eat
healthy and stay physically active.
Dena has also lead meetings for BFSA focused on the benefits of sleep and mental health.
Her work not only extends to BFSA members, but to the university at large. In summer
of 2018, she led and organized a professional development series for all employees
of TU. Topics included Career Development Essentials, Black at a PWI, and Pursuing
Education while Working: Maximizing the Tuition Remission Benefit. She works intensely
to find speakers and event locations for all events. Dena’s insight, creativity, and
passion for inclusion, social justice, and healthy lifestyle is notable. Dena continues
to push the BFSA group forward, creating new ways to build bridges with faculty, staff,
and students.
Staff Honorable Mention:
- Alison Armstrong, Development Office, Donor Relations
- Jeff Keenan, Campus Recreation
- Robyn McCray, Accessibility and Disability Services (ADS)
- Dr. G. Wei Ng, Counseling Center
- Elena Versenyi, Theatre Arts
Academic Department Winner
Electronic Media and Film, Michael Angelella, Department Chair
The Department of Electronic Media and Film (EMF) believes in and exemplifies working
collectively across the department to advance diversity and inclusiveness of underrepresented
populations and bring tangible results. Here are a few highlights of the department’s
programs and initiatives:
- Permanent TU Core 13 Diversity and Difference class in African-American Cinema (EMF
210).
- Proposal for a new university Core 13 Diversity and Difference course, Social Advocacy
in EMF.
- EditMedia’s (Equity for Diversity and Inclusion in Teaching Media) resources for inclusive
classroom best practices to all full-time faculty.
- Recruitment of diverse women of color as adjunct faculty.
- College of Fine Arts and Communication’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee membership
expansion.
- Woman Filmmaker’s Initiative - focuses on female - identifying students to promote
belonging and identify steps action steps toward better practices in a major tied
to an industry with historical gender barriers.
EMF also welcomed visiting artist, Clarence Gilyard, NAACP Image Award winner and
co-star of television's "Walker, Texas Ranger" as a teacher in co-sponsorship with
the Department of Theatre. The department also has had consecutive faculty awarded
TU Diversity and Inclusion Fellowships, served as advisors to The Lunch Table (female
students of color), and produces the Silver Screen Radio on WTMD radio, co-hosted
by Dr. Kalima Young.
Academic Department Honorable Mention: Department of Communication Studies
Administrative Department Winner
New Student and Family Programs, Katie Murray, Director
New Student and Family Programs takes a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion
very seriously and weaves that work throughout everything they do. The department
overhauled their Orientation Leader recruitment, interviewing, and selection in order
to best represent TU’s diverse student body and ensure every student and their family
feels welcomed by the orientation team. Professional staff and student leaders underwent
training to ensure the interview and selection process was equitable, resulting in
a more diverse Orientation Leader team for 2020.
The Orientation Leader team is now among the most racially diverse student leadership
teams that the office has recruited and hired. The office also experienced a 100%
increase in Latinx and APIDA identified students, as well as a 37.5% of transfer students
on the team. These demographic shifts have a significant impact on the university
with 9,000 students and their families seeing themselves represented within the Orientation
Leader team.
Beyond representation, a new hiring process specifically trained upper-division student
leaders on equitable hiring practices and inclusivity during the interview process.
A new training program was implemented for student leaders to observe group interviews
on implicit bias and how to be an equitable observer. Rubrics were re-written to include
“likability” as an observable quality to mitigate the over-reliance on “fit” as a
hiring factor which perpetuates homogeneous teams and decreases diversity. The commitment
to equitable hiring of student leaders is at the forefront of comparable programs
at the institution.
Administrative Department Honorable Mention:
- Campus Recreation Services
- Alumni Relations
- Fraternity and Sorority Life
- Towson University Police Department (TUPD)
2019 Award Winners
Academic Department Winner: Study Abroad and Away Office, Representative Liz Shearer
Administrative Department Winner: Housing and Residence Life, Representative(s) Malinda
Jensen and Christina Olstad
Staff Winner: Tasha Benn, Career Center
Faculty Winner: Elana Ehrlich, PhD and Michelle Snyder, PhD, Department of Biological
Sciences
Graduate Student Winner: April Jones
2017 Award Winners
Faculty: Brenda Conley PhD, Instructional Leadership and Professional Development
Academic Department: University Archives and Special Collections, Albert S. Cook Library
Faculty Research: Beth Haller, Mass Communication and Communication Studies
Staff: Sharlene Roberson, Fisher College of Science and Mathematics
Administrative Department: Towson University Police Department
Student: Natalie Shaheen (graduate) and Brian Johnson (undergraduate)
2016 Award Winners
Faculty: Judith Guerrero, Early Childhood Education
Academic Department: Foreign Languages
Faculty Research: Kathryn Kautzman, Chemistry
Staff: Joyce Garcynzski, Albert S. Cook Library
Administrative Department: International Initiatives
Student: Xiomara Gonzalez, Student Government Association
2015 Award Winners
Faculty: Mubina Kirmani PhD, Nursing
Academic Department: Family Studies and Community Development
Faculty Research: Paz Galupo, Psychology
Staff: Santiago Solis, Center for Student Diversity
Administrative Department: Academic Achievement, Athletics
Student: Shane Henise, Career Center
2014 Award Winners
Faculty: Marianne Dunn, Psychology
Academic Department: TU Center for STEM Excellence, Academic Affairs
Faculty Research: Seana Coulter, Career Center
Staff: Joanna Basuray, Nursing
Administrative Department: Total tiger Program, Athletics
Student: Cecile Gadson, Center for Student Diversity
2013 Award Winners
Faculty: Elsa Lankford, Electronic Media and Film
Academic Department: Special Education, Academic Affairs
Faculty Research: Mary Beth Merryman, Occupational Therapy and Occupational Science
Staff: Gail Gasparich, Biological Sciences
Administrative Department: University Admissions, Academic Affairs
Student: Samantha Hubbard, Student Government Association
2012 Award Winners
Faculty: Elizabeth Clifford, Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice
Academic Department: Albert S. Cook Library, Academic Affairs
Faculty Research: Gilda Alba-Martinez PhD, Learning Technologies, Design and School
Library Media
Staff: Annie C. McMahon, Towson Opportunities in STEM
Administrative Department: Office of Human Resources, Administration and Finance
Student: Sean Phelan, University Residence Government
2011 Award Winners
Faculty: Katherine Broadwater, Art
Academic Department: Dance, College of Fine Arts and Communication
Faculty Research: Theresa A. Adkins, Secondary Education
Staff: G. Lonnie McNew, Enrollment Management
Administrative Department: Photographic Services, University Advancement
Student: Courtney L. Cox, Student Government Association