Eastern Student Emily John Recognized at Inclusive Excellence Award

2018 May 4

Eastern Connecticut State University recognized the academic achievements of African, Latino, Asian and Native American students on May 5 during its sixth annual Inclusive Excellence Awards ceremony. Award were given out and more than 200 students were recognized for achieving GPAs of 3.5 or higher.

Emily John '18 of Woodstock Valley was given the Academic Achievement Award . John majors in Theatre.

Every year the ceremony has grown larger as Eastern's student body continues to grow in diversity. Beyond using its admissions process to create a diverse student body, Eastern encourages and facilitates important, meaningful interactions between people from different backgrounds through the creation of ceremonies such as the Inclusive Excellence Awards.

"How this place has changed," said Provost Dimitrios Pachis, thinking back decades ago when the campus was predominantly white and drew students mostly from eastern Connecticut. Speaking to the campus culture today, he said, "When we hire new faculty, we pay attention to diversity; when we bring in new students, we make sure they come from different backgrounds. Inclusiveness has become second nature; that's what makes this place very special."