Elizabeth Mellin, Cole Reilly Win Awards from Penn State Commission

by Joe Savrock (May 2009)

Two members of the College of Education academic community—Elizabeth Mellin, assistant professor of counselor education, and Cole Reilly, a Puksar Holmes Scholar set to graduate this summer with a dual-title Ph.D. from the departments of Curriculum and Instruction and Women’s Studies—recently received prestigious awards from the Penn State Commission on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Equity (CLGBTE).

Mellin and Reilly each won an Excellence in Curricular Integration Award, Mellin as a faculty member and Reilly as a graduate student—the first graduate student to have received such an honor. The award honors the collective work of individuals who strive to improve the climate at Penn State for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons, specifically through curricular integration efforts in research, service, and course instruction/design.

Mellin and Reilly were among four Penn State employees and students honored May 1 at the CLGBTE’s Penn State Rainbow Awards Ceremony.

The CLGBTE is one of three established Presidential Commissions at Penn State working to enhance the University’s diversity climate. The other two are the Commission for Women and the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity.