May 4, 2021
Diversity Programs Office May Update
In celebration of “Jewish American Heritage” Month and “Asian American and Pacific Islander” Month, this May the Diversity Programs Office (DPO) will have the opportunity to be involved in various diversity programs and accomplishments. The K-State Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) Chapter also welcomed a new Executive Board into office this last month. The Diversity Programs Office and K-State MANRRS would like to express our gratitude to the 2020-2021 MANRRS Executive Board members for their leadership over the past year. Thank you to the previous officer team:
1) Maria Kimzey, President;
2) Jenika Hazelbaker, Undergraduate Vice President;
3) Raymond Thomas, Graduate Vice President;
4) Sanders Barbee, Secretary;
5) Selena Gilyot, Treasurer;
6) Mayra Damian, Public Relations;
7) Brandon Green, Parliamentarian; and
8) Lonnie Hobbs, Jr., Co-Advisor.
The DPO and K-State MANRRS would also like to congratulate the 2021-2022 K-State MANRRS Executive Board officers:
1) Brandon Green, President;
2) Zenzelle Asante, Undergraduate Vice President;
3) Raymond Thomas, Graduate Vice President;
4) Sanders Barbee, Secretary;
5) Selena Gilyot, Treasurer;
6) Shen Nagar, Public Relations; and
7) Leah Hudson, Parliamentarian.
Congratulations to our new officer team! We are excited to watch your leadership throughout this next year.
Last month, in celebration of “Arab American Heritage Month” and “Diversity in the Workplace” month the DPO collaborated with K-State MANRRS, the College of Agriculture Ambassadors, and the Diversity and Multicultural Student Affairs Office in presenting three College for a Day events. These events included two in-person presentations given to 25 Dodge City High School students and over 50 JAG-K (Jobs for American Graduates) students from Topeka and Manhattan. Also, one virtual event was given to Junction City Middle School 7th Grade Science students (300 students) throughout four sessions. K-State MANRRS also participated in the first virtual National MANRRS Conference in April and excelled as they brought home three 1-3 place titles from the competitions.
This May we are celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage, Jewish American Heritage, and Mental Health Month. We hope all can participate in activities sponsored by the student group, Asian American Student Union (AASU), https://www.k-state.edu/aasu/AsianAmericaStudentUnion/Welcome.html.
We would also like to highlight our upcoming spring 2021 graduates:
• Cheyenne Lozano, 2018-2019 Project IMPACT MAPS Scholar
• Halle Tophoj, 2017-2018 Project IMPACT MAPS Scholar
• Jaden Castinado, 2017-2018 Project IMPACT KOMPASS Scholar
• Antonia Santos, 2017-2018 Project IMPACT MAPS Scholar
• Aaron Davis, 2017-2018 Project IMPACT MAPS Scholar
We look forward to seeing their continued success. Congratulations to our 2021 graduates!
Our final note of congratulations for the spring 2021semester goes to the MANRRS Student of the Month recipients. Thank you to Grace Huynh (February recipient) and Ana Lorett (April recipient) for honorably representing K-State MANRRS. Congratulations on being named Student of the Month by the K-State MANRRS Chapter throughout the spring 2021 semester!
Thank you to the Diversity Programs Office for their hard work in ensuring the office had a successful semester. Please continue to watch for more diversity news and events as we get ready to end the 2021 spring semester. We appreciate YOUR support. For more information about upcoming events, please contact Dr. Zelia Z. Wiley, Assistant Dean and Director of Diversity Programs, at 785-523-5793 or zwiley@ksu.edu.