Faculty, Staff Win Florida Campus Compact Awards
Two Stetson University community members, Rajni Shankar-Brown, Ph.D., and Veronica Hernandez, will be recognized for their commitment and support to their communities at the annual Florida Campus Compact Awards Gala on Nov. 17.
Additionally, Stetson University and President Wendy B. Libby are finalists for Engaged Campus of the Year and the Campus-Community Partnership award.
Rajni Shankar-Brown, Ph.D., associate professor of education and director of education graduate programs, was named a Florida Campus Compact Engaged Scholarship Faculty Award winner. Shankar-Brown, the Jessie Ball duPont Social Justice chair and faculty advisor to the Student Homeless Coalition, is the founder and executive director of the annual Poverty and Homelessness Conference at Stetson.
Veronica Hernandez is Stetson’s Community Partner Coordinator, AmeriCorps VISTA, for the Stetson Center for Community Engagement. Hernandez, a 2014 graduate of Stetson, helps students become engaged in their communities and advises the student service programs including Greenfeather, Alternative Breaks, Days of Service and Relay for Life. Greenfeather, unique to Stetson University, involves teams competing to raise funds for local charities.
The Campus-Community Partnership Award recognizes outstanding partnerships that produce measurable improvements in and demonstrate a commitment to a community while enhancing higher education. This award is designed to promote cooperation between education, community, government and business leaders on critical social and economic issues. The Engaged Campus Award recognizes Florida institutions of higher education for exemplary commitment to advancing the civic purposes of higher education by improving community life and educating students for civic and social responsibility.
The annual Poverty and Homelessness Conference will be Friday, Oct. 21, at Stetson and is co-sponsored by the Hosseini Family Foundation, C.H.A.R.M., Volusia County Schools, Stetson’s Nina B. Hollis Institute for Educational Reform, Stetson’s Center for Community Engagement, and Stetson’s Cross Cultural Center. Shankar-Brown is also a nominee for the 2016 Woman of Distinction award to be given by the Girl Scouts of Citrus on Sept. 17 at their 19th annual Women of Distinction ceremony. This event honors women whose leadership and vision improve their communities, organizations and the world.
