Congratulations to Dr. Tara Benson, associate director, Plaster Student Union, director of student engagement and Travis Schilla, coordinator of leadership development and programming in residence life, housing and dining services on being awarded the 2021-22 Board of Governors’ Award for Excellence in Public Affairs.

Dr. Benson uses her community involvement to connect students to internships, networking and leadership positions.  She developed an implicit bias training and a 15 Day Racial Equity Challenge for the leadership of student organizations. She manages the Diversity Programming Fund and alongside the student body vice-president, created the podcast, Beyond the Barrier, which addresses issues on student leadership and engagement. Her co-creator of the podcast, Blake Haynes writes, “She strives for representation to be at the forefront of all student life, allowing student organizations to have a range of diversity and backgrounds.”

Travis advises the Residence Hall Association and coordinates programs like the Acts of Random Kindness Week, #AllBearsCan, and Tunnel of Oppression.  Niyati Sethi, an SGA rep, met Travis her first year of college in GEP 101. Through Travis’s mentorship, she became involved in Residence Hall activities and eventually SGA.  As an international student, Niyati was the recipient of Travis’s simple gestures of kindness—a quick hello in the hallway, a listening ear, and subtle encouragement of goals.  She writes, “As Travis modeled community engagement, and gave me a space to live it out, I found my passion for working within public policy analysis, with a focus on human rights as a career.”