Distinguished Diversity Enhancement Award

The Distinguished Diversity Enhancement Awards recognize individuals or groups who have demonstrated a significant commitment to enhancing diversity at Ohio State and to exceeding expectations in implementing the Diversity Action Plan. The program, now in its 21st year, rewards efforts to enhance diversity on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, sex, age, disability, veteran or military service status, gender identity, economic status, political belief, marital status or social background. Recipients were honored with a plaque and a $1,200 honorarium at a spring luncheon during the Office of Minority Affairs’ ninth annual National Conference on Diversity, Race and Learning. The University Senate Committee on Diversity sponsors the awards program in cooperation with the Office of Human Resources.

Department of Theatre
“OSU Theatre is committed to sharing with the OSU community, central Ohio and the world what diversity is really all about,” one nominator wrote. The Department of Theatre’s exhibitions, productions, and programs provide students with the opportunity to explore diversity issues of the United States, as well as cultural matters from around the world. Diversity is a strong theme within the department’s curriculum, allowing students to receive a global education and broaden their horizons through a variety of guest lectures, performances, and workshops. Another nominator commented, “Students and audiences alike get emotionally connected with the performances, guests, and texts; analyze their experience through guided discovery; and are changed by their theatrical experience.” At the graduate level, diversity has been a primary focus in recruiting Master of Fine Arts candidates. The department’s faculty are committed to increasing the department’s diversity profile by bringing in notable minority guest artists and scholars and providing students, faculty, and staff the opportunity to engage with these individuals. Recent guests include Petr Matasek and Jaroslav Malina of the Czech Republic; African American Broadway designer and alumna Toni-Leslie James; African American actors Herman LeVern Jones and Ted Lange; director Woodie King Jr.; and playwrights Adam and Adrienne Kennedy. One nominator noted, “This department sets the example for living and breathing and embracing diversity, and then pushes the concept out of the box.”

J. Briggs Cormier
Doctoral Student
Student Affairs, Policy Development and Planning
Graduate student J. Briggs Cormier is “an individual who sees himself and his role in the much larger world beyond his own career and personal interest as an agent of change,” as one nominator wrote. As a graduate teaching assistant, Cormier has made long and lasting contributions to the Department of Theatre as well as to his students. During his term as president of the Council of Graduate Students, Cormier’s commitment to minority students was quite notable, as he advocated for international, gay and lesbian, and women graduate students, among other diverse groups. Cormier also played a major role in shaping the policies and guidelines surrounding use of the student activity fee and was a consistent advocate for diversity programming. In his work with the Office of Student Affairs, he exceeded expectations by compiling the Student Affairs Diversity Report and built a draft history of Ohio State’s non-discrimination policy, comparing Ohio State’s policy against those of other institutions. Additionally, Cormier recently joined the Student Affairs Diversity Council and has picked up the responsibility for leading the council’s Diversity Enhancement Grant Committee. One nominator noted he “is truly an outstanding student leader, graduate assistant and advocate for diversity.”