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Pat Cruise wins Diversity is Beautiful award

The poster read, “Students, Nominations are sought for the Diversity Is Beautiful Award. Nominate your professor, a staff member, or an administrator if he or she has done one or more of the following….” I kept reading and thinking. The criteria listed were “.shown awareness for diversity; exhibited sensitivity to people of various cultures; helped your growth in the knowledge of diversity.” So far, check. Check. And check.

I kept going. Also listed was the ability to recognize “…preparation for diversity in the workplace and helped you personally in the area of diversity.” Again, check. And double check.

By the time I finished reading the nomination form, I knew exactly who deserved this honor and what I had to do.

Each quarter RWC English Professor Patricia Cruise introduces her students not only to other cultures, but also to places in history that are very different from their own. I first met Professor Cruise for English Comp I during the Winter Quarter of 2003. It became very clear that she offered a unique teaching style.

On May 22, RWC Dean Dolores Straker joined Helen Kegler of the MultiCultural Affairs Office and Dr. Mitchell Livingston, UC Vice President of Student Affairs and Services in the RWC Writing Lab to present Professor Cruise with this year’s Diversity is Beautiful Award.

Prior to presenting the award, Dr. Livingston read an excerpt from her nomination letter: “Any chance she gets, she shares her knowledge with students. With every lesson that she plans and every reading selection that she chooses, she has a purpose–to get students to think outside their own box. Her choices all have purpose and relevance for living in today’s society.”

This achievement was celebrated in the Writing Lab with her husband, Professor Francis Cruise, friends and colleagues, and me, the student who nominated her. Upon acceptance of her award, Professor Cruise said,” I accept this in the name of all students without whom no university exists.” A simple dedication made to students.

The Writing Lab is one of those places that most of us only go to when we must. For me it was something more than just a place to get my papers revised; it was, however, the place where my English Comp professor closed one door, opened another, and then gave me a gentle push in an entirely different direction. Nevertheless, for all that this particular person has done for me, I never really knew how to say, “Thank you.” That is, until now.