Five recipients honored for outstanding community involvement, support for others
APRIL 30, 2020 BY EDWIN B. SMITH
Michael Raines
Several University of Mississippi faculty, staff and students were honored recently in celebration of their service within the LOU community and beyond.
The annual Algernon Sydney Sullivan Awards were presented by the university’s Division of Diversity and Community Engagement in conjunction with the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Foundation to recognize students, faculty, staff and community members who demonstrate selfless service to others.
The Sullivan Awards are among the university’s highest honors recognizing service. To be considered for the award, individuals must be nominated by others.
“During the disruptions and uncertainty brought about by COVID-19, it is all too easy to feel disconnected from one another and forget that connectedness and interdependence are essential elements of community,” said Cade Smith, assistant vice chancellor for community engagement.
“The Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award reminds us that connectedness and service to others are in the fabric of community by recognizing students, faculty, staff and community members who place service to community and others above self.”
Mohamed Ali Ibrahim, a research scientist in the UM National Center for Natural Products Research, received the Staff Member Award. The Faculty Member Award went to Michael Raines, instructional assistant professor of applied linguistics. Savannah Day and Neely Griggs, both majoring in public policy leadership, were presented the Student Awards. The Community Member Award was given to Zach Scruggs, executive director of Second Chance Mississippi in Oxford.
Excerpts from the honorees’ nomination letters reveal why they were chosen to be recognized.
Neely Griggs
Ibrahim is “an outstanding model of honesty, morality, ethics, integrity, responsibility, determination, courage and compassion,” a nominator wrote. “He was able to implement the many essential moral ethics through his serving at the Integrity Time program at the Oxford Elementary School for two years to teach the children many lessons about the importance of ethics, moral, what is true and good and right and how to apply that, makes him as an ambassador of morality, ethics.
“A Kiwanis Club Member of Oxford Inc., he is responsible to organize the different fundraising projects and dedicated to assist and raising funds for four years. In addition, he is supporting several charitable organizations through many different mechanisms including, but not limited to, multitime gifted charity.”
A nomination letter for Raines praises him as “a tireless helper in the communities around northern Mississippi and southern Tennessee.”
The letter goes on to describe how on the first Saturday of each month, Raines and his family meet at Golden Living Nursing Home in Ripley to give out snacks, sing and provide companionship to the patients. He has personally, without pay, helped two students – one Korean, the other Panamanian – reach acceptable scores on the TOEFL exam.
Savannah Day
One of Griggs’ nomination letters reads, “Neely’s internship with the Department of Human Services is perhaps the most prominent example of her selfless service to her community. She would talk to me often about the aid applicants that she would interview and assist day-to-day, expressing genuine empathy/desire to help these people in whatever way she could.”
Day has made a difference at Ole Miss through leadership with the Columns Society, the Center for Inclusion and Cross Cultural Engagement’s iTeam and her sorority, her nominator wrote. “She’s a remarkable young woman and someone that would represent this award program very well,” the person wrote.
The letter for Scruggs’ nomination spoke highly of his dedication to supporting others committed to bettering themselves. Explaining how Scruggs supported a young mother who had dropped out of high school and was involved in selling drugs, the nominator wrote, “When she made the first step to put that life behind her, Zach made sure she had a weekly stipend to put food on the table and gas in her car as long as she attended class. He paid her tuition and, once she completed her coursework, made sure she had a cash bonus to get a good jump start on her life.”
“These individuals represent the UM legacy of service to others and have made a tremendous impact within our community,” said Erin Payseur Oeth, project manager for community engagement. “We are thankful for their dedication to serve, their inspiring leadership and their example.”
Click here for more information about the Sullivan Awards.