Recognizing diversity, excellence with Higgins award

MUSC recognized psychologist Cristina Lopez, Ph.D., second-year medical student Celeste Jilich and senior project manager John Sion with the 2017 Earl B. Higgins Leadership in Diversity Awards, presented at the Wickliffe House May 9.

First presented in 1996 as a tribute to former director of Affirmative Action and Minority Affairs, Earl B. Higgins, the awards recognize exemplary efforts in promoting diversity and inclusion on campus and in the community.

“During his tenure, Dr. Higgins was a warrior for recruitment, retention, and enrichment programs that increased the representation of minority students in all programs at MUSC,” said university chief diversity officer Willette Burnham-Williams. “He worked diligently to recruit minority faculty members and to ensure equal opportunities for all employees. He served as a mediator in race relations and gender issues and seized opportunities to build bridges between the university and the community it serves.”

While the awards originally recognized one university employee, the Earl B. Higgins selection committee added a student category in 2006 and one for MUSC Health this year.

Higgins’ sister Deborah spoke at the ceremony in her brother’s memory. “He believed that everyone has something important to contribute. And in this day and age, we need as many contributors as we can get. The world has so many problems,” she said. “So, to all of you, thank you for contributing. You’re an example to everybody. Just keep being an example. Sometimes people don’t know what they can do. But, when they see what you’ve done, they might say, ‘I can do that too.’”

 

Cristina Lopez

Lopez was nominated by Carrie L. Cormack, DNP, an instructor in the College of Nursing, who wrote of her: “Her commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion go above and beyond in all aspects of her professional and personal life.”

Lopez is a founding member of MUSC’s Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SCANAS) and volunteers with the Area Health Education Center’s Bench to Bedside and Summer Careers Academy programs, helping to build a pipeline of minority students interested in health care careers.

She has chaired the Women’s Scholars Initiative’s Diversity and Ethnic Relations Committee since 2014 and is a collaborator on the Advancement, Recruitment and Retention of Women in Science (ARROWS) grant, which seeks to combat unconscious bias and strengthen equity and transparency through evidence-based practices.

Lopez has also demonstrated her commitment to underserved communities through outreach and telehealth programs, especially in the area of HIV prevention and sexual health.

Burnham-Williams said there was no better example than Lopez of what the work of diversity looks like in action. “I’ve had the opportunity to work with her, and sometimes I don’t know how she manages everything she’s got going on and manages it so well.”

Lopez said she was honored to receive the award after attending the ceremony for many years. “It’s weird to be on the other side of the room. Thank you to the Higgins family, Carrie Cormack, Dean Gail Stuart, Carol Feghali-Bostwick, Willette Burnham, DaNine Fleming and everybody else in the room. No one is a solo worker in diversity and inclusion, so I really appreciate everyone here for their support. Thank you so much.”

 

Celeste Jilich

Jilich has served in a variety of leadership roles since enrolling at MUSC, including co-president of the Alliance for Equality and a volunteer with the student-run CARES clinic, which serves uninsured and underserved adults in the Charleston community. She is also the co-founder of Break the Cycle, End the Culture, a student organization that strives to provide awareness and education on domestic violence and sexual assault.

She was nominated by Mitchell Hammonds, coordinator for student communications in the Office of Student Programs and Student Diversity. “I have witnessed Celeste’s incredible passion for improving the quality of life for LGBTQ students, faculty, staff and patients across campus and the Charleston community,” he said.

As co-president of the Alliance for Equality, Jilich is responsible for providing the organization with professional opportunities to expand their education and outreach. Through her leadership, she has advocated for changes in the admission process and lobbied for coursework to be more inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity.

“The work she is doing could provide the foundation for the expansion of LGBTQ —inclusive admission and coursework for all six colleges,” Hammonds said.

Burnham-Williams said she was impressed with Jilich’s passion and drive from the first moment she met her. “In addition to being excellent scholars, students are so engaged in service. Celeste Jilich epitomizes that by managing to be engaged in so many different things in so many different ways and to do them all well.”

Jilich thanked Burnham-WIlliams and others in the audience. “It means a lot to me to be here,” she said. “When I got here, I had some preconceived notions about MUSC and its diversity and inclusion. My mom had said some things that made me a little nervous. But, one of my first experiences here was doing diversity training that all of the College of Medicine is required to do with Dr. DaNine Fleming.

“And, afterward, I came up to her and said, ‘I had heard some things, and I was honestly nervous. I didn’t know if I’d be safe here.’ And, she said, ‘We’re all your warriors. We’ll
be here for you no matter what.’ So, thank you to everyone who has supported me and made me feel like I was part of this family. This means a lot to me.”

 

John Sion

Sion is the senior project manager for the Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital and Pearl Tourville Women’s Pavilion. He was nominated by Anton Gunn, chief diversity officer and director of Community Health Innovation for MUSC Health.

“It’s been a pleasure to work at MUSC because you meet so many unexpected leaders like John Sion,” Gunn said. “Three words come to mind when I think about John Sion: service, empowerment and legacy. Dr. King said, ‘Anyone can be great because anyone can serve,” and John is the definition of service.

“Second, our sixth president John Quincy Adams said, ‘If your actions inspire you to be more, do more, become more, then you are a leader.’ John’s actions have inspired so many others, particularly in the building and construction trades in our community, to want to be a part of what we’re doing. And that’s empowerment.

“The last word is legacy. When you build buildings, you know you have a legacy because the buildings will be around for a while. But, the biggest legacy for me is summed up by a quote from Pastor Miles Munroe that says, ‘Success without a successor is a failure.’ To build this hospital and have large numbers of local community members of diverse backgrounds — women-owned businesses, veteran-owned businesses, minority-owned businesses — share in our success and be a part of what this children’s hospital and women’s pavilion will mean for the community for generations to come is the definition of success.”

Gunn said many of those constituents would not have been at the table if not for Sion, who championed the inclusion of small, women and minority-owned businesses in the construction of the new hospital.

Eight percent minority participation is the industry standard. Sion’s goal was 30 percent, which Gunn called incredibly significant. “To have a leader outside the office of Diversity and Inclusion advocate for this goal is unprecedented,” he said. “No project in the history of MUSC has had this level of diversity in construction.”

Sion thanked Gunn and the selection committee. “Thank you all. There are so many folks who could be receiving this. A lot of people worked very hard to change the perceptions of how we’re building this hospital. Our providers and families have designed it, and our community has built it. We’ve done a lot of work to include folks who didn’t even think they’d have a chance, so they didn’t bother to turn in a bid. We told them, ‘It’s different now, so come to the table and bid. We want you to build our hospital.’

“These contractors who are right in our backyard are very proud to be working on his hospital. This is for their children and grandchildren.”