A longtime marketing professor and a senior in English, Modern Languages and Journalism will each receive the Presidential Award for Diversity on Thursday. The awards will be given at the beginning of the 2018 Social Justice & Equity Lecture at 6 p.m. in Albert Taylor Hall.
Dr. Joyce Zhou, associate professor of marketing in the School of Business, joined the faculty at Emporia State in 2009. A recent graduate of the 29th Leadership Emporia Class (an educational program designed to nurture and enhance leadership skills), Zhou is the faculty advisor to ESU’s Chinese Student and Scholars Association, a member of the Ethnic and Gender Studies Committee and has represented Emporia State internationally as she joined the Higher Education Forum Committee following her presentation in Hong Kong in 2016. She was named faculty mentor of the year in 2017 and received an i3 Grant from Emporia State University in 2017.
Ralvell Rogers II, a graduating senior in English, Modern Language and Journalism with a focus in Creative Writing, embodies leadership, engagement and service toward multiculturalism and diversity that ESU strives to achieve. Rogers has been involved as a participant and leader in an impressive range of activities. He's the founder of Emporia State University’s Black Writers Club, a member of Black Student Union and served as a columnist and managing editor of the ESU Bulletin student newspaper. He also has written for two in-house ESU publications and served as a primary writer for the ESU Spotlight Magazine during the university's conclusion of the Now and Forever Campaign.
The Presidential Award for Diversity recognizes leadership, engagement and service toward multiculturalism, diversity, equity and inclusion at Emporia State University and in the larger Emporia community. The award acknowledges those whose work encourages respect, understanding and appreciation of difference and who make contributions that foster and support the development of diverse and inclusive practices within and outside the ESU community.