The Dr. Marva Rudolph Diversity and Interculturalism Unit Excellence Award is given to an office, program, department, or college that has demonstrated outstanding leadership and made consistent contributions to advancing diversity and inclusion at UT. The award is named in memory of Marva Rudolph, an associate vice chancellor and director of the Office of Equity and Diversity who passed away in 2014 after more than 20 years with the university and more than 30 years of dedicated work in diversity and inclusion.
McClung Museum
The university’s McClung Museum brings together natural history, cultural, and art collections to create a space for convergence, discovery, and collaboration. The mission is to share stories and facilitate the exchange of ideas to awaken curiosity in service of the university and communities connected to Tennessee.
How does your organization or department embody the Volunteer Spirit? How do you light the way for others?
“The McClung Museum embodies the Volunteer spirit by lighting the way for others and serving as an important entry point. For many Knoxville community members, the McClung is the first (and possibly only) museum they will visit. Also, many feel that navigating a university campus is daunting. Therefore, the museum is responsible for fostering feelings of welcome and belongingness on behalf of museum spaces and UT at large. Simultaneously, for higher learning students and scholars, the museum provides research opportunities, hands-on learning, programming, and career advancement. The McClung is a critical conduit—bringing the UT and local populations together in a space for dialogue and engagement—as academic museums are uniquely positioned to do. Throughout the McClung, its staff have retained a commitment to this work so they can better serve the university and its diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion efforts and serve as a model for other academic museums.”