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What Is The Catalyst Award?The Office of Affirmative Action created the Catalyst Award in 1999 to honor the outstanding work of individuals and departments engaged in strengthening diversity within the UI community. The award's purpose is to recognize individuals and departments on campus that have demonstrated excellence by developing an innovative program, policy or activity that enhances diversity within the University, or has a positive effect on building respect for diversity within the University community The School of Social Work was selected for their successful efforts to integrate cultural competence into their departmental mission and programs at every level, including through specific campus/community networking and collaborative projects. As stated in the nomination, "its faculty and staff are a beacon and catalyst for diversity on campus, in our local community, and throughout our state and region." At a ceremony honoring the awardees on Thursday, October 3, 2002, Salome Raheim, Director, shared the following thoughts as she accepted this honor on behalf of the School. |
 Salome Raheim and Raul Curto, Exec. Assoc. Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
Honoring Diversity: The 2002 Catalyst Award The
University of Iowa
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Acceptance Speech by Salome Raheim, Director On behalf of the faculty, staff and students of the School of Social Work, I express our appreciation and delight for being chosen for this honor. Our accomplishments that the Catalyst Award recognizes are the result of the vision, commitment and tireless efforts of many people in the School. These accomplishments are the result of six years of collaboration within the School, as well as partnerships we have developed with a wide range of individuals and organizations throughout the State of Iowa and other states in the Midwest, as well as partnerships in Mexico Guatemala. These partnerships have increased our cultural competence as a School and enriched our educational programs so that our students will be better prepared to work in a diverse world. Our University partnerships have also been critical to our accomplishments. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has consistently supported our efforts to enhance diversity and provided resources for several initiatives. The Office of the Associate Provost for Diversity/Opportunity at Iowa has been another critical partner in co-sponsoring events like Dia de los Muertos and the Latino Youth Leadership Conference. Of course, the Office of Affirmative Action has also been an important partner in providing educational resources to strengthen our cultural competence, such as providing Safe Zone Training for faculty and staff (which nearly all faculty and staff attended). Other academic units and colleges such as the Colleges of Education and Public Health and the Rhetoric Department have been key partners in our cultural competence initiatives. We are grateful for the support we have received from within the University and for the opportunities to collaborate with individuals and organizations around the State and in other countries. Our efforts are part of the profession of social work's broader mission to promote social justice. We have much work to do, but we appreciate this opportunity to pause, reflect, and celebrate how far we have come. We are proud to be members of this university community that values such efforts. I am especially proud to be the director of a school that has faculty, staff and students who are committed to social justice and who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to make our cultural competence initiative possible. Again, we thank you for this recognition.
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