WEB NEWS RELEASE
COLLEGE PARK, MD (June 2010) - Each year the University of Maryland’s Presidential Commission on Ethnic Minority Issues (PCEMI) pays tribute to individual units at the College Park campus that have made outstanding contributions to Maryland’s equity efforts. This May, the College of Education’s Maryland Institute for Minority Achievement and Urban Education (MIMAUE) was honored with the 2010 PCEMI Outstanding Unit Award at a touching ceremony held at Marie Mount Hall.
"The PCEMI award we received was a fitting recognition of the large portfolio of University, College of Education, and K-12 programs and activities that MIMAUE has conducted over the past few years," said MIMAUE Founding Director and Professor Emeritus Martin L. Johnson in response to the accolade. "Our Institute’s work reaches a K-12 education audience with messages that college programs and activities do not reach. We are thankful to the Commission for recognizing the Institute’s work."
The PCEMI Awards also celebrate faculty, staff, and students who have worked to improve the racial climate on campus. In addition to its Unit Award, two of MIMAUE’s staff members—Program Coordinator Tamika Montgomery–Smith and Graduate Assistant Raquel Gonzalez—were honored with the Staff Minority Achievement Award and the Graduate Student Minority Achievement Award respectively.
A former teacher, Montgomery-Smith provides programmatic and administrative leadership for the implementation of MIMAUE’s partnerships with public schools and the community. Gonzalez, a doctoral student in Education Policy Studies, was credited for her role in creating Institute programs that advance minority achievement in education.
MIMAUE will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its founding in the spring of 2011. Since its inception, the Institute has focused on improvement of minority achievement, elimination of the achievement gap, and the improvement and reform of urban education. It also develops and applies research and expert knowledge to local needs and concerns through initiatives such as the African American Male Achievement Program, the Latino Parent Empowerment Program and the College Access Project. To learn more about MIMAUE’s activities, visit their web site at: www.education.umd.edu/MIMAUE.
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For more information on the College of Education, visit: www.education.umd.edu
or contact
Halima Cherif, Assistant Director for Communications, at: hcherif@umd.edu
