A different kind of award ceremony will take place Wednesday evening, with the recipients not striving to receive these awards, but instead being recognized as a byproduct of the change they’ve effected.
For 30 years, United Campus Ministries has been recognizing individuals and organizations locally that have made significant achievements in activism and social justice through their Social Justice Awards. Recipients of the awards are nominated by a third party.
“One of the things we did this year (was to designate) ‘ones to watch,’ ” said Mickey Hart, chair of UCM’s Board of Directors. “It engages the board in some of the work that’s happening … The more connected we are, the better we are as a board.”
The two individuals who will receive awards are Ohio University students Tyler Barton and Tracy Kelly. Five organizations are being recognized as well, including OU’s Hip Hop Congress.
“We were kind of shocked (when we heard we received the award),” said Erin Johnson, president of Hip Hop Congress. “I didn’t even know we had been nominated.”
Since 2008, UCM has also recognized an individual with long-standing involvement in social justice with the Kuhre Griesinger Lifetime Achievement Award. This year’s recipient is Mary Anne Flournoy.
“She’s one of those individuals in a community (that) if you picked any nonprofit organization, you’d find her involved in some way,” said Melissa Wales, executive director of UCM.
Flournoy became involved in UCM when she arrived in Athens in the ’70s and served on the Board of Directors. Flournoy, who also taught classes at OU, worked her way to becoming OU’s associate director for international studies and retired in 1998.
Flournoy said a major focus of her life is understanding other cultures, which was put into practice through her family’s time in Indonesia.
“My life has been about getting myself out of my comfort zone, because that’s how I learn,” said Flournoy.
Flournoy is currently involved with several different organizations including the Zienzele Foundation, a organization quartered in Zimbabwe that supports AIDS orphans and their caregivers and the Sugar Bush Foundation, which promotes civic engagement and sustainable environmental, socioeconomic and human development in Appalachian Ohio.
Hart, a previous UCM Social Justice Award recipient, said the awards serve dual purposes.
“It’s a venue for them to promote the work that they’re doing, but the key thing is to celebrate the work that’s being done,” Hart said. “It’s normally people who do good work because it needs to be done, not because they want to be recognized for it.”
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