2022 President's Diversity Awards

The President’s Diversity Awards celebrate members of the Cal Poly community who have exhibited a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion on our campus. The awards are an opportunity to recognize members from the faculty, staff, and student communities as well as contributions from a recognized student group/organization and department/unit.

Congratulations to the 2022 Awardees

	Award	Awardee
	Dolores Huerta "Si Se Puede" Award for Transformational Leadership	Dr. Jenell Navarro
	Excellence In Inclusive Design	Cal Poly Disability Alliance
	Faculty Award	Dr. Regulus Allen, English
	Student Award	Barbara Rodriguez, Animal Science
	Staff Award	John Lee, Disability Resource Center
	Staff Award	Kari Mansager, Campus Health & Wellbeing
	Campus Department	Ethnic Studies
	Student Organization	American Indian Science & Engineering Society

Click to view all our past President's Diversity Awardees ›

Dolores Huerta "Si Se Puede" Award for Transformational Leadership

Dr.Jenell Navarro, Chair of Ethnic Studies

This year’s, Dolores Huerta “Si Si Puede” Award for Transformational Leadership was awarded to Dr. Jenell Navarro. Dr. Navarro received her Ph.D. in Cultural Studies from Claremont Graduate University and her areas of expertise include Indigenous Studies and Hip-Hop. Jenell has been a life changing teacher and a scholar activist change agent from the moment she began working at Cal Poly. Now as the Chair of the Ethnic Studies (ES) department she has led the campus in instituting the new ES requirement. While in the midst of that massive and successful endeavor, Dr. Navarro continued to serve the broader campus community through her collaborative efforts with SDAB, OUDI, and Student Affairs, to name a few. Her student nominators for the award stated that, as “the faculty advisor for AISA/AISES [she] has shown immense dedication and mentorship to her students. Her advocacy work is inspiring…[and] Dr. Navarro has been fundamental in Cal Poly's commitment and journey towards [social justice,] diversity and inclusion. Dr. Navarro not only is dedicated to her students and department, but constantly uplifts the POC community at Cal Poly and fights for​ their inclusion. She creates space for students to learn about movements and conversations in Indigenous communities, how to decolonize our mindsets, and move forward with hope and dignity." 

Excellence In Inclusive Design Award

Cal Poly Disability Alliance 

Cal Poly’s Disability Alliance has been awarded the President’s Diversity Awards for Excellence in Inclusive Design. The Disability Alliance is a student organization comprised of disabled students and allies who work to increase access and disability inclusion on campus. In Spring of 2022, Disability Alliance partnered with the Multicultural center to host Cal Poly’s first ever “State of Disability” event, where they educated audience members on the experiences of disabled people at Cal Poly. This included providing information on the social model of disability, giving advice on how to improve accessibility both inside and outside of the classroom, and other concepts inherent to Inclusive Design. The event also featured ASL interpretation, live closed captions, and verbal image descriptions to increase accessibility for those who are Deaf, heard of hearing, have auditory processing disorders, or are blind or low vision.  Aside from their larger projects, the Disability Alliance exemplifies Inclusive Design through the creation of virtual spaces for disabled students to build community. The club hosts weekly meetings over Zoom, which increases accessibility for students with health disabilities, physical disabilities, or students who are immunocompromised and cannot safely return to in-person events due to COVID-19. Through designing a truly accessible and inclusive space, the Disability Alliance has successfully created an environment that fosters relationship-building and social support for students who are often excluded from campus life due to the non-inclusive design of spaces and activities.

Faculty Award

Dr. Regulus Allen, English Department

Dr. Regulus Allen, PhD is an Associate Professor in the English Department at Cal Poly who has been awarded the President’s Diversity Award in the faculty category. She received her Bachelors, Masters, and PhD in English from the University of California, Los Angeles.  In both the classroom and the development of department curricula, Dr.Allen has worked tirelessly to decenter white supremacy in a historically Eurocentric discipline. She proposed and successfully championed the addition of a diversity-designated 400-level seminar to expand opportunities for English majors to engage with non-white and non-cis heteronormative artists. In her scholarship, she meaningfully broadcasts social justice principles in her re-(his)torying of 18th C literary studies by traveling both domestically and internationally to organize conferences, participate on panels, and present research that exemplifies social justice values in a field where this work is desperately needed. Finally, in terms of Dr.Allen’s efforts to support colleagues and “create an inclusive campus climate,” she is an enduring example in her leadership and service on multiple DEI hiring committees in 2017, 2019, and 2022.

Student Award

Barbara Rodriguez, Animal Science Major

Barbara Rodriguez is a senior Animal Science major at Cal Poly who has been awarded the President’s Diversity Award in the student category. Barbara has been heavily involved on campus in several multicultural organizations and has held several leadership positions in each. She has been a member of Imagen y Espiritu ballet folklorico since her first year at Cal Poly. Within her first year she became Vice President of the club where she helped organize performances and helped teach dances to other members. Although she no longer holds a position in the club, she is still someone that other members look up to because she is always willing to help others improve their craft. Not only is she heavily involved in folklorico she is also the Co-President of MEXA and President of Sigma Omega Nu Latina Interest Sorority, Inc.  She was the one planning MEXA’s annual Xicanx Youth Conference where she created an event for local underrepresented high school students to promote pursuing a higher education. Finally, her most recent project is Feed Those Feed Us where she is working with the educators of color club to fundraise to create grocery kits for local farmworker families. Barbara is a selfless person who wants to make sure the community she is a part of is being served and represented.

Staff Award

John Lee, Disability Resource Center

John Lee is an Assistive Technology Specialist at the Disability Resource Center who has been awarded the President’s Diversity Award in the staff category. John Lee joined the DRC in August 2010 where he has been a leader in assistive technology, disability advocacy, and helping with student accommodations. In addition to his work at the DRC, John recently began to co-teach an honors seminar and is helping students understand that disabilities are part of the human condition and not something to fear. John is the co-Chair for the Disability Access and Inclusion Committee, planning events and initiatives to help the disability community. John is great at spreading understanding of inclusive efforts around disability. He gives talks at several different venues, both at Cal Poly and in the community. These include weekly Disability Tapas offerings, the Social Justice Teach In, Access for All discussions and virtual socials, and for a number of different Cal Poly classes. John works tirelessly to make sure that disability is a part of the conversation about social justice and inclusion. John is a great ambassador for Cal Poly in the local community working in support of people with disabilities to make our local community stronger and more inclusive.

Staff Award

Kari Mansager, Campus Health and Wellbeing

Kari Mansager, Director of Wellbeing & Health Equity in Campus Health and Wellbeing at Cal Poly has been awarded the President’s Diversity Award in the staff category. Since stepping into her role with Campus Health & Wellbeing, Kari has been incredibly transformative not just for the staff, but in service of students too often underserved by programming and services. Under her leadership, Wellbeing—which includes PULSE, Safer, Mustangs for Recovery, Health Education, and the Food Pantry and Basic Needs Coordinator—has begun to be a more equitable, thoughtful, and human place. From day one in this role, Kari listened intently to the needs and hopes of the current staff. Under her leadership, Campus Health and Wellbeing has outreached to various campus communities that were being underserved and sought out their needs and desires by centering their voices. She has established a number of collaborations with faculty and staff to continue pushing the department to utilize the data, reach out to underserved communities, and (most importantly) make tangible and sometimes immediate changes to begin to address inequity. Kari has a deep understanding of and value for the student experience, noticing students who have been marginalized by people or systems, and ensuring that she brings a lens of equity to all she does.

Campus Department Award

Ethnic Studies

The Ethnic Studies department at Cal Poly has been awarded the President’s Diversity Awards in the campus department category. The department places a special emphasis on community, and value individual students for the variety of talents and interests they bring. Ethnic Studies centers cultural understanding and acceptance as a valuable byproduct of a curriculum that focuses on critical inquiry to advance analysis of race, ethnicity, and cultural difference in an increasingly heterogeneous and complex world. The entire Ethnic Studies department goes above and beyond making all of their students, both majors and non-majors, feel welcome, heard and safe. The faculty members individually mentor students throughout the year, helping guide many first-generation students and students from lower socio- economic status' through the challenging path of academics. The department goes above and beyond what most faculty do to help students succeed...to graduate, to become good community members, and to give back to their communities.

Student Organization Award

American Indian Science & Engineering Society (AISES)

The American Indian Science & Engineering Society at Cal Poly has been awarded the President’s Diversity Award in the student group/organization category. AISES supports the academic, professional, and personal goals of American Indian and Indigenous students on our campus. The students in AISES have worked diligently to create a community of scholars during the pandemic and beyond to uplift each other, create a sense of belonging for one other, and therefore, retain the few American Indian and Indigenous students we have on campus. This year they banded together to celebrate Indigenous brilliance and joy. Furthermore, AISES students consistently look out for the next generation of American Indian and Indigenous youth to recruit to Cal Poly. AISES students also believe in the sovereign status of the ytt and have built long-lasting, meaningful, and reciprocal relationships with ytt Tribal Members. The officers of AISES are also implementing an Indigenous food program at Cal Poly to grow traditional foods like corn, chile, and cactus so those foods are available to the campus community. Finally, AISES was instrumental in the opening of the Native American and Indigenous Cultural Center. They helped paint the mural in the center and they've attended and help organize programming from the center for this entire academic year including events such as: Indigenous Peoples' Day, The State of Indigeneity, The Indigenous Kitchen, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples' Day, and Indigenous Commencement.