The ballrooms of the David L. Eisler Center were filled with joy and laughter on Thursday, Jan. 18, as 40 students and faculty members joined to conclude the week of Martin Luther King Jr. celebrations with student recognitions.
Ten students who have exemplified practicing social justice in their everyday lives were honored and acknowledged during this event while they also got to learn more about MLK.
Vice President of Diversity Inclusion and Strategic Initiatives Dr. David Pilgrim was at the forefront of this event. According to Pilgrim, the committee wanted to do something educational and fun.
“The first group [of students], we asked the Ferris community to nominate students who have demonstrated some levels of activism,” Pilgrim said. “The other group are the students who have worked to keep the Office of Multicultural Student Services going and thriving.”
English and creative writing senior Massiel Calderon was one of the recipients of this award. She has been heavily involved in the Hispanic/Latino Cultural Center as their special project assistant.
Calderon was very excited about receiving this award because social justice is a passion of hers.
“I love literature and poetry, but I am also very heavy on social justice,” Calderon said. “Being an advocate comes easy to me because I am not scared of people. It’s really important that our allies look different than us and I try to lead with that philosophy at the Center because even though it sounds like it is catered to Latinos, it’s really not. It is a place of community.”
Calderon was nominated by the director of HLCC, Sonia Treviño. Calderon describes Treviño as the wind beneath her wings.
“I want to be so thankful to Sonia,” Calderon said. “If I say to her, ‘Hey, I have this bizarre idea,’ she’s just like ‘Sure, go for it.’ She just always gives me the avenue to execute everything that I do here at Ferris. Nothing’s too small or too big.”
Another recipient of this award, social work junior Melanie Perrault, was very appreciative of the faculty and experiences she’s had at Ferris.
“Without coming to Ferris and getting involved in social work and building these crucial relationships, I definitely wouldn’t have had the opportunities that I have had,” Perrault said. “I don’t think I could have gotten those experiences anywhere else.”
Perrault was nominated by a College of Arts and Sciences advisor, Dave Schrock. Perrault is a former advisee of Schrock. According to him, Perrault just stood out to him.
“Every student has ups and downs, but there were some really meaningful and good conversations with her,” Schrock said. “She is so good at understanding the body of knowledge that other people who’ve gone before us have figured out. She is so good at applying that and following through and making sure things happen.”
This event concluded with a celebration of the Trivia winner and a thank you speech from Dr. Pilgrim, where he wrapped up the Martin Luther King Jr. celebrations.