The winner of this year’s Kimmel Scholarship and other award recipients will be honored Wednesday. The Kimmel awards annually honor the late Carol Kimmel, a tireless volunteer and ardent Southern Illinois University Edwardsville supporter who dedicated her life to education.
The Kimmel Leadership Awards Ceremony will take place at 4:30 p.m. in the SIUE Morris University Center Meridian Ballroom. This year’s award recipients include:
• Kimmel Scholarship Awardee Renee Dow Tate, an SIUE graduate students from Pontoon Beach majoring in art therapy counseling
• Faculty/Staff Award Recipient Lakesha M. Butler, clinical associate professor in the SIUE School of Pharmacy
• Special Populations Award Recipient Mary Anne Hopper of Waterloo
• Social Service/Social Welfare Award Recipient Timothy Stark of Collinsville.
The scholarship recipient is chosen based on certain specific criteria, including having a minimum cumulative 3.0 GPA, having a demonstrated commitment to leadership, service and/or citizenship, serving in a leadership role within a student organization, and having letters of support. Tate has a 4.0 GPA and an extensive student organization and community service record. The scholarship will cover Tate’s tuition for full-time study at SIUE for an academic year at the Illinois in-state rate.
Tate, who chose to work with Rebirth East St. Louis instead of taking a graduate assistantship, said, “I believe wholeheartedly in the importance of building genuine relationships. I want to serve, mentor and inspire hope through my life.”
In addition to her involvement with Rebirth East St. Louis, Tate has been a member of the Student Art Therapy Association in numerous roles, as well as worked closely with area youth through the Christian Activity Center in East St. Louis, the Inter Varsity Fall Conference in Carlinville, the Inter Varsity Urbana Missions Conference 2013 in St. Louis, and serving as an SIUE East St. Louis Charter High School Winter Ball Chaperone.
“Renee is a student who demonstrates critical thinking and strong empathy toward others,” said Megan Robb, assistant professor in art therapy counseling at SIUE. “Having these skills as a student training to be a therapist is critical, but not often observed so readily among her peers.”
Awardees for the other categories were selected based on their community service philosophies, degree of volunteer participation, and service and volunteer impact. Butler was nominated for her work with Ark of Safety Christian Church in St. Charles, Mo., Christian Women Walking in Victory and Girls Empowered in Math and Science (GEMS.)
“Dr. Butler is a firm advocate for both increasing diversity in the profession of pharmacy and improving access for minorities to healthcare professionals,” said nominator Gold Uche, a student pharmacist who is the SIUE chapter president of the Student National Pharmaceutical Association.
Uche explained how Butler’s role in organizing the School of Pharmacy’s annual Diversity Summer Camp Program has made a positive difference in the lives of area students, adding, “Dr. Butler voluntarily gives her time to this endeavor, because she passionately believes that a program such as this will help increase minority personnel in the profession of pharmacy.”
Hopper was described by nominator Kimberly Williams Lee with the Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois as “an outstanding leader, cookie manager, troop organizer consultant, camp director and service unit director.” Lee further explained “Mary Anne’s whole life is committed to service for others.” In addition to her work with the Girl Scouts, Hopper volunteers with the Boy Scouts, the St. Louis Baseball Team and on many boards in the Waterloo and Valmeyer area.
The Social Service/Social Welfare recipient, Stark, has a philosophy to “help youth make better decisions more often.” He said his goals are to “maintain current relationships with the courts, families and agencies; expand the juvenile diversion programs into more communities and foster more relationships with youth serving agencies.”
He is involved with multiple agencies, including as the founding director of the Madison County Juvenile Diversion, and as a member of the Latino Roundtable, the Boy Scouts of America and Pride Inc.
Referencing the message from the late Mahatma Ghandi, “you must be the change you want to see in the world,” stated Scott Elliff, program coordinator with the Madison County Probation and Court Services Department in his nomination of Stark. He added that “Stark embodies the very essence of this axiom through the generous and altruistic offering of his time, efforts and enthusiasm, with the humble notion to encourage just one person in the community to make a better choice in life.”