USU Announces 2023-24 Inclusive Excellence Awardees

The Utah State University Division of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion has announced the recipients of the 2023-24 USU Inclusive Excellence Awards. These awards recognize individuals and/or organizations on campus and in communities served by USU who have made significant contributions to inclusive excellence practices.

This year’s recipients are Amber Reed, Cree Taylor, Joseph Ward, F. Ross Peterson, Sidnee Naraebout, and St. John’s Episcopal Church.

The formal presentation of the awards will take place at a luncheon on April 29.

Amber Reed – Staff

Amber Reed — the program assistant for education and professional learning in the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion — has demonstrated a commitment to fostering an inclusive community for students, faculty and staff.

She actively seeks out opportunities to expand her own understanding while also engaging with individuals from diverse backgrounds, recognizing the value of learning from varied experiences.

Reed has followed through on important projects, including her work a collaborative grant project with USU Blanding for Native American Serving Non-Tribal Institutions.

She championed the initiative to recognize and honor USU’s multicultural graduates and address the disconnect between experiences at USU Blanding and the Logan main campus.

Through her efforts, professional development opportunities have been created to enhance understanding and capacity in leading organizations with diversity, equity and inclusion at their core.

Cree Taylor – Faculty

Cree Taylor is a lecturer in the Department of English at USU and was also recently appointed as the associate dean for inclusive excellence and belonging in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. This is the first position of its kind in CHaSS and at Utah State University.

Taylor is a self-reflective instructor who applies critical and inclusive pedagogies in the classroom.

As a member of the Faculty Senate, Cree sits on the Faculty Evaluation Committee where they have examined the ways minoritized faculty can better interact with IDEA course evaluations and have taken a closer look at the tenure and promotion process at USU. She consistently speaks out in favor of equitable practices when it comes to faculty evaluation and promotion.

Cree is a member of the USU Inclusive Excellence Council and the Athletics Inclusive Excellence Council, where she focuses on issues that affect the students of USU.

During her tenure at USU she has served as the Black Student Union faculty adviser and former co-chair of the USU Juneteenth Planning Committee. In her Juneteenth role, she brought together 32 campus and community partners as well as USU Alumni in celebration of the USU Juneteenth Event Series.

Joseph Ward – Administrator

Joseph Ward serves as the dean for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

While serving as the Dean of CHaSS, Ward has encouraged the development of programs and centers that foster inclusive excellence and belonging, including

• The Heravi Peace Institute.
• The Center for Intersectional Gender Studies and Research.
• The Transforming Communities Institute.
• The Community and Natural Resources Institute.

He has also supported the faculty- and staff-led CHaSS Inclusive Excellence Council and the development of inclusive majors, minors and certificates.

During his tenure Ward led the hiring of an associate dean for inclusive excellence and belonging. The role of this associate dean is to work directly with college and university stakeholders to help spearhead and support efforts toward inclusive excellence. This is a unique role to the university, and it has helped CHaSS continue to move forward in their inclusive excellence goals and efforts.

F. Ross Peterson – Community Individual

F. Ross Peterson taught “Business, Race and Society” in USU’s Management Department. This led to two separate alumni panels during Black History Month, one on philanthropy and service, the other on minority business leaders.

Simultaneously, he worked with the Juneteenth Committee as this holiday became part of USU and Cache Valley’s remembrance. During the past year, he spoke about the growth of minority studies in a presentation, “In Search of Henry Aaron: Baseball, Religion, and Civil rights” in St. George and Salt Lake City.

Peterson was involved in the creation of a student-faculty exchange with Fort Valley State University in Georgia, whose president, Paul Jones, is a USU graduate.

During the past two years, he has led Japanese college students involved with Middlebury students to visit Japanese American World War II Relocation camps in California and Utah. The students are involved with translating oral history from English to Japanese but had not seen the camps.

This past winter, he joined Sterling Bone for a workshop at the Brotherhood Crusade Foundation in Los Angeles. Charrise B. Weaver, an alumnus, works with high school and college students to prepare them for college, and Bone’s students mentored them on practical and encouraging ways to move forward with education.

Sidnee Naerebout – Student

Sidnee Naerebout is a veterinary sciences major and USU student athlete competing in triple jump for the Women’s Track and Field Team.

Last year she served as a student intern for the USU Juneteenth Event Series Planning Committee. As a part of this internship, Naerebout attended and took minutes for committee meetings, volunteered during the event series, recruited student-athlete volunteers, delivered marketing materials throughout the community, and sat in meaningful dialogue with the committee co-chairs.

Naerebout is also the president and founder of the USU Black Student-Athlete Association, or BSAA. This student-led organization works to foster an environment of inclusive excellence in athletics. They plan and carry out a variety of events for students including movie nights, game nights, trivia, and tailgating parties. BSAA also collaborates with on-campus organizations.

This semester, BSAA collaborated with the Black Student Union to host a community Black hair information night. They gave a presentation on the history of Black hair and invited local barbers and hair stylists to present on proper hair care techniques. This event was primarily attended by families and children seeking more information about how to properly care for their hair.

St. John’s Episcopal Church – Community Organization/Group

St. John’s Episcopal church has been an active presence in the Cache Valley community for 150 years. It provided the first public showers and the first library in order to make basic services available to people regardless of social or financial status.

During summer 2022, a group of community members began plans to open a local warming center to provide a safe and warm place at night during the coldest months of the year for those without access to shelter and housing. The board of the William A Burnard Warming Center anticipated opening the following year, in December 2023.

St. John’s is also a community leader in offering a welcoming, supportive, and loving space for members of Cache Valley’s LGBT+ communities and their allies. The church has supported the Pride Center since its founding in 2017, both financially and with physical space.

St. John’s is a founding member of Cache Community Connections, a civic and interfaith group formed in the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11.

The St. John’s community recently made a generous contribution to the Friends of the Logan Library to commemorate the church’s 150th anniversary, drawing a direct line from the first community library — hosted by St. John’s — to today’s new building that serves Logan and its residents.