YPSILANTI, MI - Two Eastern Michigan University students, a longtime Washtenaw County public servant and an EMU faculty member were honored this week for exemplifying the values and ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and their contributions to the university and the community.
Desmine Robinson received the annual $1,000 EMU Student Humanitarian Scholarship Award, and Raul Leon and Verna McDaniel were honored with EMU Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Awards. The scholarship and awards were presented during EMU's Martin Luther King Jr. program on Monday, Jan. 16.
Robinson became a well-known figure on campus this past semester at EMU after hearing a variety of his classmates saying they wanted to make a stand against racism, organizing a silent protest consisting of students, faculty and staff.
His goal was to have faculty, students and staff stand in solidarity against racist vandalism that had appeared outside of King Hall. Later in the semester, along with Black Student Union President Jaren Johnson, he helped organize a second such march, a Unity Rally. He is a peer educator at the EMU Women's Resource Center and a mentor and tutor at EMU Upward Bound.
Akintunde Oluwadare received the Evans-Strand Scholarship Award. The annual $1,000 award, modeled after the Nobel Peace Prize, annually recognizes an individual for contributions in advancing the understanding and furthering the acceptance of diversity at Eastern.
Oluwadare, a social work major, has demonstrated a strong commitment to social justice and diversity. His research interests in educational equity underscore his dedication to promoting equity within our educational systems. Funded by a grant from the EMU SURF Program, Oluwadare is creating original research on the factors that influence the academic success of African American men.
He also has created a website with ideas on how to combat the campus racial climate, introducing a three-pronged approach consisting of Education, Representation and Training. He has served as a tutor to EMU Upward Bound, worked a summer with Communities in School mentoring at risk children, and helped underprivileged children to read at the Family Learning Institute in Ypsilanti. He is an honors student while working full-time as a direct care worker at Synod Community Service, and maintaining a 4.0 GPA.
Leon has served as a professor in the Department of Leadership and Counseling in the EMU College of Education since 2011. In addition to advising the Latino Student Association, he helped launch the BrotherHOOD and SisterHOOD initiatives at Eastern. His service to EMU students inside and outside of the classroom exemplifies the values and ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
McDaniel served as Washtenaw County administrator from 2010-16, She led the creation of a dental clinic in downtown Ypsilanti to serve low-income residents.