DDI Good News | September 2023
Be sure to say hello to Molly Radzinski, senior communications specialist with University Communications. She started in this role July 5th and her “news beat” includes the Division of Diversity and Inclusion and the College of Science. She is from Albion, NY and most recently worked as public relations coordinator for the Albion Central School District. By the way, if you want to “talk sports” she’s worked in athletics communications at Kent State University and as an assistant athletic director of communications at the University of Cincinnati.
We are also thrilled to welcome Torrence Sparkman to the Division of Diversity and Inclusion. He has been appointed assistant provost and assistant vice president in the Office of Faculty Diversity and Recruitment (OFDR). He started July 10th. Sparkman joins DDI from Saunders College of Business. You can read more about his goals for OFDR in a profile article in this newsletter.
Major congratulations to Maria Vega who, as of August 28th, is the new director of the Higher Education Opportunity Program. (HEOP) Vega has spent 16 years in higher education at RIT dedicated to student growth and success. She was associate director of HEOP for two years and she also served as the director of RIT’s Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program. (CSTEP)
The National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) was well represented at the National Black Deaf Advocate Conference (NBDA) in Birmingham in August. Alesia Allen, assistant vice president for NTID Diversity and Inclusion delivered the keynote address during the opening session entitled “Reconnecting to Thrive Together: Reconnect, Recharge, Thrive!” Allen was introduced by NTID President Gerard Buckley. Bakar Ali and Kemroy Campbell, fellows in the NTID Faculty Fellowship program, served as workshop presenters and their joint presentation, ChatGPT: The Promising Potentials of Artificial Intelligence for Deaf People” won an award for being one of the most highly attended sessions.
NTID students Menna Nicola, Natnail Tolossa, Rebecca Adeyinka, Samuel Brown and Tarique “TK” Sylvester participated in the NBDA’s Collegiate Black Student Leadership Institute. The Youth Empowerment Summit received strong support from NTID’s Roxann Richards, associate director and Yvette Chirenje, assistant director Pre-College Outreach, Pamela Christopher, NTID Co-Op and Career Center senior employment advisor, and NTID’s Sunshine 2.0.
Honors for “Dear Eleanor”, RIT’s Diversity Theater’s latest film. Director Tina Chapman DaCosta flew to France in May where the film won “Best Score” (composer Max DiCarlo) at the Diversity in Cannes Film Showcase 2023 at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for “Best Editing” (RIT alum Fraaz Kahn). The short film also received “Best of the Fest” at the Rochester International Film Festival and was screened at The Charlotte Black Film Festival in North Carolina. “Dear Eleanor” is the sequel to “Brick by Brick” and both are based on Chapman DaCosta’s parents. The films are used in RIT’s 365 curriculum for first-year students. The next screening of “Dear Eleanor” is September 17th at The Little Theater, as part of the Fringe Festival.
RIT Minett Professor Emeritus T. Andrew Brown has been tapped to serve on the New York State Bar Association’s blue-ribbon Task Force on Advancing Diversity. Brown, managing partner at Brown Hutchinson LLP and a past president of the New York State Bar Association, served as the Minett Professor this past academic year. The task force will work to preserve diversity, following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action.
Honors for our DDI newsletter! It received the “Not for Profit PRism Award for Newsletters” from the Rochester Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America in June. Congrats to the DDI Marketing and Communications team of Janet Lomax, DDI journalist in residence, Devon Watters, assistant director of Marketing and Communications and Sandra Whitmore, executive director for Marketing and Operations.
We are proud of you! Congratulations to Denise Herrera, founder, program coordinator of NTID’s Randleman Program and DDI’s Jazzmyn Ivery-Robinson, assistant director, Community Belonging. They are among 11 finalists for the 2023 Colors of Success DEI Leadership Award by the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce. The award highlights an individual who demonstrates exemplary leadership in advancing diversity, equity and inclusion impacting the greater Rochester community. The awards ceremony is September 14th at the Riverside Convention Center.
DDI promotions: Beth Caito, senior financial coordinator, Taj Smith, executive director for Culture and Diversity Education, David Wick, associate vice president for Research and Assessment and Sandra Whitmore, executive director for Marketing and Operations.