The Plain Dealer Human Relations Endowed Scholarship Hits CSU

By Cheryl D’Mello

The Plain Dealer Scholarship 2008 winners Huong Nguyen (left) and Christine Jamison (right) with Dr. Njeri Nuru-Holm, Vice President, Division of Institutional Diversity at CSU.

Cleveland State University students Christine Jamison, a senior whose major is Biology, and Huong Nguyen, a senior with a combined major of International Relations and Spanish were awarded The Plain Dealer Human Relations Endowed Scholarship of $1000 each.

“Both students are real role models for other students,” said Dr. Njeri Nuru-Holm, Vice President, Division of Institutional Diversity at Cleveland State University, who recognized and congratulated the students at a special reception on September 3, 2008.

“Ours is an urban metropolitan university; commitment to service is important, and there are not a whole lot of people who make an effort. It takes a lot of creativity and passion for public service and social justice,” she said.

Christine Jamison has a GPA of 3.7, and has volunteered for Habitat for Humanity in the New Orleans Katrina Recovery Effort, Dress for Success in Cleveland, V-Day at CSU. She also worked on a project in the Detroit Shoreway Community, developing the urban youth in leadership and service. She has participated in the Cleveland Council on World Affairs Model United Nations, chairing high school parliamentary debates.

Huong Nguyen, whose GPA is 3.9, cofounded two student groups to promote cultural diversity on campus: the Vietnamese Student Association and the “Club de Espanol” (Spanish Club). She also helped create the Viking Expeditions, a student-led service learning group at CSU.

Nguyen has volunteered with the Ten Thousand Villages, a fair trade retailer of artisan-crafted home décor and gift items from across the globe, and has worked for the Cleveland Council on World Affairs as chair to various committees at its Model United Nations conferences.

The scholarships were established by Alex Machaskee, CSU alumnus and retired President and Publisher of The Plain Dealer, in acknowledgement of an honorary degree that he received from CSU in 1995. The scholarships recognize student effort by advocacy and deed that have resulted in enhanced relations at CSU or the Greater Cleveland community. A plaque bearing the names of all recipients is displayed in the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, which administers the competition.

Applicants have to be full time juniors or seniors with a cumulative GPA of 2.75. The applications are available at www.csuohio.edu/offices/odama.

Article originally appeared in The Cauldron Newspaper on September 22, 2008.