Screen cap from event held over Zoom Feb 25.
LBCC held the 13th annual Unity Day Celebration over Zoom on Feb 25. The Unity Celebration is intended to celebrate the diversity, equity, and inclusion of our college and recognize members of the community for exemplifying those standards.
Jason Dorsette, Executive Director of the office of Institutional Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, joined this year to introduce the event.
The awards presented are the Analee Fuentes Unity Award, the Gary Westford-Robin Havenick Community Connections Award, and the winners of the annual Black History Month Essay Contest. Participants also heard from LBCC’s award-winning choir performing “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus, and this year’s Poet Laureate Sophia Griffith reading her poem “Live Your Life”.
Dr. Keith Dempsey was this year’s keynote speaker. He is a mental health professional, specializing in advocating for Black mental health. He was formerly the Associate Dean of the Graduate School of Counseling at George Fox University and is the first African American to receive tenure in that position and has won several awards for his work.
Dempsey was invited to speak this year by Ramycia McGee, who is an English professor at LB.
Dempsey is passionate about teaching others that Black trauma is valid and the need for therapy and counseling should be destigmatized for every Person of Color. This especially fits in with this year’s prompt for the Black History Month Essay Contest: The “Strong Black Woman” trope.
Dempsey has been exploring how diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts are represented in mental health. He said he’s found in the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics that they support these efforts. Dempsey also said he found that CDC declares racism as “a threat to mental health.”
He said he still wonders why it’s so well represented on paper and not in real-life practice. Why is it still so stigmatized for Black people like: “Counseling is for White folks” or “You don’t need therapy, you need to go to church.”
After Dempsey spoke, LB English Professor Tristan Striker introduced the winners for this year's BHM Essay Contest.
Graphic for advertising this year's "Breaking the Shame" series for
Black History Month.
First-place winner Keri Grigas is a first-year student studying Networking & Systems Administration: Cyber Security and plays flute, piano, and oboe. An excerpt from her essay about her experience with the “Strong Black Woman” trope is linked here.
Photo provided by Keri Grigas
Second-place winner Krystal Overvig spoke next. She originally wanted to pursue engineering, however, is now dual majoring in English and Education. Her essay is about a personal experience where being the “Strong Black Woman” affected her.
Photo provided by Krystal Overvig
Third-place winner is Angelyna Geno, who is a proud Asian woman and shared how the trope affected her view of Black women and how she hopes it’ll change. She will be graduating LB this year with an Associate of Science degree in Biological Science. She is also currently part of the Director of Legislative Affairs of the Student Leadership Council.
Photo provided by Angie Geno
Bryan Miyagashima, Reference and Instruction Librarian at LBCC's library, announced the winners for the annual awards.
The Analee Fuentes Unity Award is awarded every year to one employee, or employee group, and one student, or student group. For the employee award nominees included employees Anne Magratten, Lena Gates, Rob Camp, and Tania Mendez. This year’s winner is Kristen Jennings, who is an Academic Coaching Coordinator Faculty.
For the student award, Riley Coleman who is a student ambassador of Institutional Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and Danae Fouts who is an Executive Assistant and future President of the Student Leadership Council. They are both also part of LB’s Change-Makers Co-Curricular program.
For the Gary Westford-Robin Havenick Community Connections Award which is presented to an individual, organization, or business, Angel Harris who is the previous president of the NAACP was nominated for her work with diversity, inclusion, social justice, and equity contributions to the college and community. The winner this year was the Casa Latinos Unidos of Corvallis.
Next year everyone has high hopes that the event will resume in-person again. For more information on this event, visit the Unity Celebration web page.
At A Glance-
What: Unity Day hosted annually by LBCC
Where: Over Zoom for the second year in a row
Who (awards): Analee Fuentes Unity Award winners Kristen Jennings, Danae Fouts, and Riley Coleman. Gary Westford-Robin Havenick Community Connections Award winner Casa Latinos Unidos. Black History Month Essay Contest first-place Keri Grigas, second place Krystal Overvig, third-place Angelyna Geno and Dahlia Seiter.
Who (speaker): Dr. Keith Dempsey, mental health professional. Website keithdempseycounseling.com
When: Feb 25 from 9 to 10 a.m.
What: Unity Day hosted annually by LBCC
Where: Over Zoom for the second year in a row
Who (awards): Analee Fuentes Unity Award winners Kristen Jennings, Danae Fouts, and Riley Coleman. Gary Westford-Robin Havenick Community Connections Award winner Casa Latinos Unidos. Black History Month Essay Contest first-place Keri Grigas, second place Krystal Overvig, third-place Angelyna Geno and Dahlia Seiter.
Who (speaker): Dr. Keith Dempsey, mental health professional. Website keithdempseycounseling.com
When: Feb 25 from 9 to 10 a.m.