Almost two dozen campus employees were honored last month for their diversity and affirmative action efforts at UC Davis. They were announced at the annual Soaring to New Heights diversity celebration March 21, an event that drew more than 500 to Freeborn Hall for a speech, music, food and community support. The celebration was dedicated to Ellie Fontes-Fulton, who retired Feb. 1 from her position as director of the Office for Diversity, Affirmative Action and Equal Employ-ment Opportunity. Fontes-Fulton was lauded at the diversity event for her 22 years of service to the campus and especially for her dedication to and leadership in campus diversity. The diversity awards are given by the Staff Affirmative Action and Diversity Advisory Committee in several categories. INDIVIDUAL AWARDS The individual awards recognize campus community members who, through their own personal efforts, have made significant contributions to affirmative action/equal employment opportunity and/or heightened awareness and sensitivity to diversity. The recipients were: Diana Davis, a psychologist at the Counseling Center, who developed a pilot mentoring program for students who are coming out and developing identities as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. The program matches these students with other campus individuals who are more knowledgeable and self-accepting of their identity. Joaquín Galván, retention coordinator for the Learning Skills Center, who makes more than 20 presentations each year. In these, he has shared his strength and wisdom with diverse groups of students from throughout California, helping students reconsider their perceptions of college and thus increasing the diversity of the student population. Amagda Pérez, staff attorney for the School of Law, who is a role model and mentor for minority law students and the community. She does this through her work with the Immigration Law Clinic and the California Rural Legal Assistance Foun-dation, and as an adviser to the La Raza Law Student Association. Sharon Pinkney, director of admisions at the School of Law, who has worked tirelessly to achieve diversity in the law school student body. While carefully complying with the law, she has greatly increased outreach efforts to diversify the student body. SPECIAL CITATIONS Special citations are intended to recognize contributions and efforts made by faculty, executives and/or student employees. Alan Hwang and Angela Loudermilk, who served as student co-chairs of the UC Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Annual Conference held in February. They put in hundreds of hours organizing the conference, which had more than 500 registered attendees, dozens of workshops, keynote addresses, over 50 volunteers, a resource fair, community housing and social events. Daniel Desmond, interim director of the California State 4-H Program in the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, who has devoted much of his time to training and educating staff and volunteers about the value of diversity in an increasingly diverse world. Not only has he sent staff members to national multicultural training, but he has been instrumental in redesigning 4-H programs for the state that encourage participation from a more diverse population. Kevin Johnson, associate dean for the School of Law, who builds bridges with other faculty members in departments on campus, serves on numerous affirmative action and diversity committees throughout the campus and other law schools, and serves as a role model and mentor in order to ensure that the law school has a diverse student body. James Shackelford, associate dean of engineering, and a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, who has a long-standing record of supporting diversity programs both within the university and in outreach with K-12. He is co-principal investigator for several grants and programs that encourage the participation of underrepresented and/or disadvantaged students in math, science, and engineering disciplines, and serves as a mentor and employer for a diverse group of individuals. DEANNA FALGE AWARD This award recognizes the ongoing (five years or more) demonstration of exemplary contributions toward the furthering of UC Davis' affirmative action/equal opportunity and diversity objectives. This award is intended for staff, Academic Federation or Academic Senate members. This year two individuals who are retiring received the Deanna Falge Award. Eleanor Fontes-Fulton, retired from the Office of Diversity, who faced with integrity, compassion, strength and courage the challenges from the UC regents' and state voters' decisions to end the use of race, ethnicity and gender in student admissions, hiring and contracting. Her efforts and leadership in expanding the diversity framework have kept the UC Davis Principles of Community highly visible. She also has been a sympathetic ear for many community members who had faced intolerance; her attention has created a positive atmosphere and reduced conflict in the campus workplace. Adaljiza Sosa-Riddell, director of the Chicana/o Studies Program, who was one of the first directors of that academic program and is well recognized for her advising and intellectual mentoring of students. She has also created supportive work environments that are inclusive and bias- free for faculty and staff members. She has served as an effective role model and mentor to women and underrepresented groups on campus. DEPARTMENT AWARD This award is intended to recognize the UC Davis department whose members, through their own personal efforts, have made significant contributions to affirmative action/equal employment opportunity and heightened awareness and sensitivity to diversity. This year was unusual because the award went to an interdepartmental team. Training Internship Program with participants Cynthia Bevc from Undergraduate Admissions; Mary Dixon from Plant Biology; Ann Edwards from the Temporary Employment Pool; Emily Galindo from Student Housing; Rachel Mallery from Neurology, Physiology and Behavior; Matthew Matuszak from Employment and Outreach Services; Francisco Rodriguez, former director of the Cross-Cultural Center and now executive dean of Woodland Community College; Eleanor Sandoval from Employment and Outreach Services; Damaris Solano from Student Aid Accounting; June Taylor from Human and Community Development, Sue Torguson from Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering; and Deb Weimerskirch from the Temporary Employment Pool. Each member of this team contributed time and effort to participate in the pilot phase of the internship program, a collaborative effort between UC Davis and Woodland Community College that brought underrepresented individuals on campus for hands-on work experience. The idea was to strengthen the students' ability to apply for campus positions, create more diversity in qualified applicant pools and increase the campus's commitment to affirmative action/equal opportunity goals. The program is designed to help fill a growing demand for highly skilled office staff through more diverse applicant pools.