The Hardy Liston Jr. Symbol of Hope Award honors a faculty member, staff member, or friend of the university who demonstrates a commitment to diversity and multiculturalism.
Amadou Sall
For nearly thirty years, Amadou Sall has been one of the most visible and beloved advocates of internationalism and interculturalism on UT’s campus and in the wider community. As a lecturer of Africana studies, Sall has been a leader in promoting diversity and multicultural understanding both within and outside the classroom. He regularly organizes events to broaden peoples’ understanding. Since the 1980s he has worked with the African Student Association on their annual production of Africa Week, and last year he organized an African film series on campus. He also founded and now leads an annual Africana studies mini-term trip to Ghana, and last summer he took students on a service-learning trip to Cape Town, South Africa. Sall has been honored for his dedication with the University Citation for Excellence in Teaching, the Outstanding Adult Educator–East Tennessee College Alliance Award, and the Black Graduate and Professional Student Association’s Outstanding and Dedicated Service Award, to name a few. Sall’s students “learn in ways that far exceed what they can get from any book or film; he challenges them interculturally, intellectually, and personally in all sorts of vital ways,” his nomination noted. He is currently UT’s sole faculty member teaching Fulani, the university’s first and only African language course.