MLK 2019
Staff: Peter Murray
Peter is the mastermind behind the Inclusive Campus Team, made up of students and professional staff that help facilitate different trainings, look closely at their policies, and work in tandem with other groups on campus to make everyone to welcome. This team worked closely with the Office of Multicultural Affairs to develop and start up their student staff to complete Diversity Peer Education training. This has helped the student staff to be more inclusive, learn about themselves and others. Infusing diversity and inclusion into their department, pushing the department to do their best and giving full effort in everything they do. As he dreams, imagines and acts, Peter has made an impact to the UMass Lowell Community for the better and has made the commitment to social justice and change.
Faculty: Sue J. Kim
Sue had provided continued support to disenfranchised community members through her work with a progressive group called Solidarity Lowell. This group was created in hopes of organizing actions and a safe space for those who feel the most threatened in Lowell and beyond. They have organized and worked together to fight back against the tide of hate, discrimination, and the destruction of the fabric of our democracy. She uses her skills in social media to help educate and connect people who are impacted with different resources to help protect them. Through the creation of the Southeast Asian Digital Archive (SEADA), the Southeast Asian collective, narrative, history, and arts has been solidified and immortalized into UMass so that future generations of Southeast Asian students, scholars, and community members can learn about this community.
Student: Edina Hirt
Edina continuously displays a commitment to and passion for community service. When asked to complete 30 hours of community service for a class requirement, she asked permission to increase her hours so that she could split her work between three different sites, the first and only student in the history of the course to ask to do so. At the end of the semester, supervisors from all 3 sites reported on how valuable her work was to them, praising her creativity, networking abilities, and strong work ethic. After this experience, she also decided to create a community service volunteer web app - newly named "Community Connections," which will help UMass Lowell students, faculty, and staff connect with community organizations in a much more efficient and timely manner, increasing the impact of community service projects and elevating UMass Lowell's ability to "give back" to the Lowell community in a substantial and meaningful way. The app will be housed on the university's website
Community Organization: The Kindred Project
The Kindred Project is a grassroots organization formed in 2016 with the mission of creating visible community for Black people in Lowell. Under the direction of founders Masada Jones and Maritza Grooms, the Project has hosted events in the city such as "Courageous Conversations: Why Talking About Race is Important," "Your City Saturdays: Community Connections," and, more recently, a series of Melanin Meetups that serve as networking events and spaces where people of color can show up and exist fully and celebrate their cultures.
See past winners.