General News
Iowa & Minnesota Campus Compact (IAMNCC) has announced the winners of the 2020 Presidents’ Engaged Campus Awards. This year’s awards include over 100 honorees selected by 38 of our member college and university presidents. Amongst these honorees were Concordia St Paul’s recipients: senior Hannah Gustafson, Executive Vice President and Dean of Diversity Dr. Cheryl Chatman, and the Union Park district council. Awardees were selected for their role as student leaders, civic leaders, and for community-campus partnerships. There were also four selective award categories for Emerging Innovation, Community Collaboration, Alumni Leadership, and Civic-Minded Employer.
“This year is a particularly important time to recognize the amazing collaborations happening between communities and campuses,” said Emily Shields, Executive Director. “The current crisis makes the important public role of colleges and universities even more evident and these examples demonstrate what’s possible.”
Awards events to be held in April and May had to be canceled. Online recognition will occur from April 17 to May 5 and will include video messages for and by awardees, virtual message boards, pictures, and descriptions of awardees. These will be shared on IAMNCC web sites and social media.
“Concordia University, St. Paul is a leader in the Twin Cities higher education community. Its success stems, in large part, from its outstanding faculty and staff, dynamic student body and strong civic partnerships throughout the metropolitan area. We are delighted that Hannah, Dr. Chatman and Union Park are being honored as recipients of the 2020 Presidents’ Engaged Campus Awards. Each is most deserving,” stated CSP President, Brian Friedrich.
A standout student leader, Hannah has been involved in service throughout her college career. Most recently, she has been instrumental in educating the student body about mental health issues and led a campaign called the Green Bandana. It included a pledge for taking care of yourself and listening to others, information about mental health services on campus and in the community and tying a green bandana on your backpack to signal that you took the pledge to understand mental health issues.
Dr. Chatman is often described as the “heart” of Concordia University – reflected in the many students and faculty who visit her office frequently to receive a welcoming smile or word of encouragement. She serves a similar role in the community spending long hours supporting community efforts such as Arts Us, EveryBody In and the NAACP. Her influence both on campus and in the community is far-reaching, and to honor her CSP has named our Diversity Center after her to honor her legacy of service.
Union Park District Council creates a welcoming space for diverse residents from new immigrants to renters, property owners, and students and has helped create a fund to build community capacity. UPDC works to ensure college students are welcome in the community and higher educational institutions and students are represented on its board and activities.
Learn more about all the Presidents’ Awards honorees in Iowa and Minnesota.
Iowa & Minnesota Campus Compact strengthens the capacity of colleges and universities to fulfill the public purposes of higher education through its network of 58 campuses. This includes educating students through community and civic learning experiences and making an impact in communities through reciprocal partnerships that address community-identified goals. IAMNCC creates partnership opportunities, supports quality programming through professional development, and promotes the importance of the civic mission.