Columbia College honored two individuals and two groups during its fourth Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Awards on Tuesday. The annual event recognizes staff, faculty and community members who follow in King’s footsteps.
This year’s event was dedicated to minister and professor, the Rev. Dr. C.W. Dawson Jr., a fourth-generation preacher in Columbia who grew up during the height of the civil rights movement. Dawson was unable to attend the event due to medical reasons, the college said in a news release.
Carmela Thornton, part of the Columbia College faculty, staff and student body, won an individual MLK Award. She volunteers with Jefferson City Project Homeless Connect and Big Brothers Big Sisters, and she serves on the board of Juneteenth-Jefferson City.
Jared Clark, the second individual MLK Award winner this year, works for Columbia College Global. He focuses on and volunteers with diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across campus, including creating DEI web resources on topics such as affirmative action, unconscious bias and ableism.
“Girls Who Game” won an MLK Award for its work in empowering female, transgender and nonbinary youth to embrace their passion for gaming. The organization holds an annual summer camp, runs pop-up events throughout the year and hosts a moderated Discord server.
The second group winner of a 2023 MLK Award is the Columbia College Office of the Registrar. As the first point of interaction for new students, the group “goes above and beyond on a daily basis,” said Raea Mills, instructional technologist in the Columbia College Online Program.