University Hosts Welcome Reception, Cultivates Community

Baylor’s Office of the Provost, Faculty of Color Alliance and Campus Diversity Committee are cultivating community for new faculty and staff. Together, the departments hosted the inaugural Faculty and Staff of Color Welcome Reception Sept. 6 in the Baylor Club President’s Suite. The gathering created connections, built faculty and staff friendships and mentorships, celebrated diversity and honored this year’s Diversity Enhancement Award winner.

The reception also celebrated the University’s commitment to foster and nurture the diversity of students, faculty and staff, which lies at the core of its mission to transform lives and serve others. Baylor intends to host the Faculty and Staff of Color Welcome Reception every year to continue to build support for faculty success and retention.

Dr. Lakia Scott, assistant professor of curriculum and instruction in the School of Education, received the 2018 Diversity Enhancement Award by the Campus Diversity Committee for her leadership and service to strengthen and promote respect for diversity and enhance a climate of understanding throughout the campus community.

Eloisa Haynes, assistant director of advancement services and chair of the Campus Diversity Committee, presented Scott with the award. Haynes said Scott was selected for her efforts to promote diversity, including initiatives to promote the recruitment and retention of first-generation college students; serve as advisor to the multicultural student organization ROOTS; mentor young women of color; establish a reputation for being empathetic and supportive of students from traditionally marginalized backgrounds; and focus her research on multicultural awareness, diversity practices and urban literacy.

Scott said she was honored to receive the award and credited her mentors, Ramona Curtis, director for community engagement and initiatives, and Dr. Mia Moody-Ramirez, professor of Journalism, Public Relations and New Media, for pioneering a path she and others can follow.

Scott thanked Curtis for transforming her understanding of global issues in literacy to further inform her scholarship. Scott credited Moody-Ramirez for demonstrating the value of mentoring students who may come from similar backgrounds.

“These two women continue to inspire me. It is in this sentiment that I accepted the award, knowing that I am following in the footsteps of amazing trailblazers of the University,” Scott said.

Scott said she hopes to advance the University’s initiatives focused on diversity and inclusivity for students, faculty and staff through service. Since she received the award, Scott has become a member of the Campus Diversity Committee and was appointed to serve on the President’s Diversity Council by Terrill Saxon, professor, interim dean of the School of Education and associate dean for research and graduate education.

“The value she places on diversity, her devotion to cultural issues and her desire to reach marginalized children are not simply things she talks about,” Saxon said. “Her teaching and scholarship are focused on these areas and are making a strong impact.”

Scott understands a teacher’s impact and works to prepare new teachers to enter the workforce driven to make a difference in the lives of elementary and middle school students. She joined the Baylor faculty in 2014 and teaches courses in literacy, literature, multicultural education practices and social issues and foundations. She is founder and director of the Baylor CDF Freedom School, a seven-week summer program to prevent summer learning loss in middle school students through culturally relevant literature, STEM activities and art.

For more information about the Diversity Enhancement Award or the Campus Diversity Committee, visit baylor.edu/diversity.

This story is repurposed with permission from the School of Education's Instant Impact.