Award | Montgomery College, Maryland

2025 Excellence in Equity Award

Purpose

Each year, the Excellence in Equity Awards aims to recognize and celebrate current students, faculty, staff, and administrators who demonstrate a commitment to inclusion, diversity, equity, access, antiracism, leadership, and social justice. These individuals serve as leaders through their active participation and contributions to make Montgomery College and/or their local community more inclusive by creating an environment where all individuals are valued, respected, and feel that they belong and matter.

Criteria and Eligibility

A total of nine awards will be given: one full-time faculty; one part-time faculty; two staff; one administrator; and one student from each campus including Workforce Development and Continuing Education (WDCE).

Criteria - Satisfy Two or More

Demonstrates work to promote social justice, equity, inclusion, and diversity across the College as an advocate, activist, teacher, or learner
Facilitates opportunities to learn and bring people from different backgrounds in the College together
Participates, develops, and promotes programs or events that support equity awareness and intercultural engagement efforts
Demonstrates a high level of commitment to equity in service, teaching, and scholarship
Understands and demonstrates how equity and diversity are integral to the mission and values of Montgomery College
Displays commitment to valuing equity and inclusion above and beyond assigned job duties
Serves as an advocate for the interests of under-served populations

Inclusion

The active, intentional, and ongoing engagement with diversity—in people, in the curriculum, in the co-curriculum, and in communities (intellectual, social, cultural, geographical) with which individuals might connect—in ways that increase one’s awareness, content knowledge, cognitive sophistication, and empathic understanding of the complex ways individuals interact within (and change) systems and institutions.

Diversity

Individual differences (e.g. personality, language, learning styles and life experiences) and group-social differences (e.g. race, ethnicity, class, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, sexual identity, disability, country of origin, and ability status as well as cultural, political, religious or other affiliations) that can be engaged in the service of learning.

Equity

Student focus: The creation of opportunities and intentional design of the college experience for each student, particularly historically underserved populations to ensure, preserve participation in, and provide equal access to educational programs that are capable of closing the achievement gaps in student success and completion.
Employee focus: The creation of opportunities for historically underserved populations of employees (faculty and staff) to have equal access to professional growth opportunities and resource networks that are capable of closing the demographic disparities in leadership roles in all spheres of institutional functioning.

Access

Convenience, affordable, proximity, provide equal opportunities for persons with disabilities to all aspects of campus life, non-selective, local postsecondary, multiple pathways to the College.

Anti-Racism

Defined as the work of actively opposing racism by advocating for changes in political, economic and social life.

Social Justice

Social justice is a concept of fair and just relations between the individual and society, as measured by the distribution of wealth, opportunities for personal activity, and social privileges…. The concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fulfill their societal roles and receive what was their due from society. In the current movements for social justice, the emphasis has been on the breaking of barriers for social mobility, the creation of safety nets, and economic justice. Social justice assigns rights and duties in the institutions of society, (i.e., education, in efforts for gender, ethnic, and social equality, for advocating justice for migrants, prisoners, the environment, and the physically and developmentally disabled, which enables people.

Historically underserved or underrepresented populations include but are not limited to: first-generation, low income, students of color, adult students; marginalized orientations, gender identities, and intersex students; students with second-language backgrounds; undocumented students; veterans; students with disabilities; students with dependents; foster care youth; and formerly and currently incarcerated students.

Eligibility

To be eligible, students must be currently enrolled at the College on a full or part-time basis and full-time and part-time faculty and staff must be currently employed by the College.

Awards

The award will be announced on April 9, 2025 during Spring Equity Week (April 7 - 9, 2025).

The award shall consist of a certificate of commendation for each individual that will be signed by the President and the Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer and a personalized "Pass the Baton" award, for each award. Their name shall also be included on the Excellence in Equity Award plaque.

Selection Committee

Nominations are reviewed by a committee comprised of members selected from each of the four-campus governance councils, a member of student council, representation from the staff council from Central Services, and representation from the Office of Equity and Inclusion.