RCAH Professor Tama Hamilton-Wray Earns Leadership Award
April 10, 2023
- Longtime RCAH professor has made an enormous impact in and out of the classroom.
- Ceremony is tonight (Tuesday, April 11, 2023) at 5 p.m. at the Molecular Plant Sciences Atrium, 1066 Bogue Street, East Lansing, Michigan.
- “I am confident that Tama will continue to be one of our valued colleagues and student mentoring pacesetters,” said RCAH Dean Dylan Miner.
By Morris Arvoy
Tama Hamilton-Wray, Associate Professor in the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities (RCAH) at Michigan State University, is being honored at a reception this evening from 5 to 7 p.m. by the MSU Black Faculty, Staff and Administrators Association (BFSAA) with its seventh annual Historical and Emerging Leaders Award.The BFSAA honor celebrates Hamilton-Wray, a longtime RCAH professor who has made an enormous impact on MSU, in and out of the classroom. The award recognizes Black faculty and staff, as well as undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, who “maintain academic excellence and serve as leaders and change agents” in their registered student organizations, departments and colleges, the University, and the local community.
“I am very honored to have been nominated by my colleagues in RCAH for the Black Faculty, Staff and Administrators Association Historical and Emerging Leaders Award,” Hamilton-Wray said. “RCAH has been instrumental in the growth and development of my scholarship, creative practices, teaching, and service, but also my leadership capabilities.
“Additionally,” she added, “I have great respect for the tireless and important work of the BFSAA and the role the association plays in supporting and advocating for Black populations at MSU. Again, I am deeply honored.”
An RCAH faculty member and an independent filmmaker, Hamilton-Wray co-leads RCAH’s innovative Sister Circle Mentoring Program. This program regularly hosts community-building events, study sessions, movies, and other gathering opportunities in support of RCAH students of color. Her most recent film is Songs for My Right Side, which debuted in 2020 at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles. Hamilton-Wray produced the film, written and directed by her creative partner and husband, MSU Film Studies Professor Jeffrey C. Wray.
"This award is so well deserved,” said RCAH Dean Dylan Miner. “Tama’s years in RCAH and at MSU demonstrate her commitment to mentorship, teaching, and Black Diasporic Cinema.
“The Award nominations by her RCAH colleagues cite Tama’s efforts as a mentor to students of color, as well as her work as a practicing filmmaker. I am confident that Tama will continue to be one of our valued colleagues and student mentoring pacesetters.”
The seventh annual BFSAA Historical and Emerging Leaders Recognition Reception is 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. this evening, Tuesday, April 11, 2023, at the Molecular Plant Sciences Atrium, 1066 Bogue Street, East Lansing, Michigan.
The Residential College in the Arts and Humanities (RCAH) is a beacon among Michigan State University’s heralded learning communities, named best in the nation among public schools by U.S. News & World Report for four consecutive years. RCAH’s unique “living-learning" community offers the advantages of a small-college, liberal arts education with all the opportunities of a major Big Ten university. RCAH students hone the key skills that are most in demand by employers today by examining critical issues through the lens of culture, visual and performing arts, literature, community engagement, social justice, history, writing, and philosophy. RCAH graduates’ 99 percent placement rate into careers or graduate school is the best at MSU. Find out why: Visit rcah.msu.edu, email rcah@msu.edu, or call 517-355-0210.
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