Black Awarded for Commitment to Women’s Progress
Following her recognition as the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges’ (AAVMC) 2017 Patricia M. Lowrie Diversity Leader Scholarship recipient in March, Texas A&M veterinary student Erin Black has been honored with the Texas A&M University Women’s Resource Center’s 2017 Women’s Progress Student Award.
Black received the award during the Accountability, Climate and Equity (ACE) Awards ceremony on April 12 in the Bethancourt Ballroom, on the Texas A&M campus.
The Women’s Progress Award honors students, staff, faculty, and administrators who encourage and promote sensitivity to and awareness of issues that relate to women.
Student nominees must be currently enrolled and demonstrate commitment to an improved environment for female students and to women’s issues through volunteer work, elected position, advocacy, and/or other forms of leadership on or off campus. Award recipients receive a commemorative item and $250 monetary award.
Black, from McKinney, Texas, serves as president of the student chapter of the Women’s Veterinary Leadership Development Initiative.
She also works to promote diversity through the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM) by mentoring minority students, serving as the liaison for the national Student American Veterinary Medical Association and the national organization of Veterinary Students as One in Culture and Ethnicity, and acting as a member of Project Diversity, which works to reach out to undergraduates at historically African American colleges and universities to encourage students to consider a career in veterinary medicine.
The ACE Awards recognize the appreciation of Texas A&M’s diversity, which involves an exploration of individual differences in a safe, positive, welcoming, and nurturing academic environment.
The ACE Awards acknowledge and honor students, faculty, and staff in honor of their demonstrated commitment to the Texas A&M core value of RESPECT by promoting respectful treatment of others, affirming and encouraging individuals to take pride in their social and cultural identities, and including all in their definition of the “Aggie Family.”
ACE Awards are sponsored by the Division of Student Affairs, Office for Diversity, Department of Multicultural Services, Department of Disability Services, Women’s Resource Center, Aggie Allies, the Consensual Language, Education, Awareness, and Relationships Office and the Student Government Association Diversity Commission.
Award categories include the Diversity Service Award, Gary Gray Memorial Student Recognition Award, Partners in Learning Award of Excellence, Aggie Allies Rainbow Award, Phyllis R. Frye Advocacy Award, Women’s Progress Award and Stand Up Award.
