2009 Outstanding Women of Color Award Celebration at the University of Wisconsin
Recognizing achievement and service
Recognizing achievement and service
From the University of Wisconsin and Jonathan Gramling
While small in number, women of color make a significant contribution to the academic vitality
and relevancy of the University of Wisconsin. On April 13, five women of color — Peggy Choy, Le
Ondra Clark, May Lee Moua-Vue, Sheri Williams Pannell and Janice Rice — from the University of
Wisconsin were recognized for their achievements and contributions at the Pyle Center when they
received the 2009 Outstanding Women of Color Awards. Rice was twice honored when she was also
named the Outstanding Woman of Color for the UW System. Friends, colleagues and supporters
cheered as each was introduced, reflecting the many ways that women of color make an impact at
the university.
The 2009 Awardees
PEGGY CHOY
Peggy Choy is a lecturer in the School of Education’s Dance Program and an outreach
program specialist in Southeast Asian Studies. She has worked in many different capacities inside
and outside the University of Wisconsin for 20 years. She is a teacher of dance, a choreographer, a
dancer, and a writer and producer of performance art. Her work is creatively and powerfully shaped
by her concerns surrounding women of color, and by issues of race/ethnicity/and indigeneity, social
justice, access to education, and community service. Peggy weaves art and history powerfully into
indelible performances as in “Gateless Gate: Women of the Scarred Earth” which premiered at UW-
Madison’s Union Theatre in 2007. She builds on the memories of an old Korean woman who has
survived the horrors of war as a “Comfort Woman,” forced into sex slavery by the Japanese military.
In the rigors of academic research and writing and in the tensions of political activism, we
forget that art and music are places where identities, politics, and cultures are forged and where
| (Above) Seema Kapani (l-r), Jacqueline DeWalt, Linda Stitt and Hazel Symonette (R) UW Vice-Provost Damon Williams addresses the audience. |
people go to heal, especially in times of trouble and despair. Her productions, performances, and teaching contribute of healing efforts that are aimed at
moving us away from war, violence, and lifestyles devoid of the care-taking spirit. Outside the university, Peggy exemplifies her message through the Ki Project,
an organization committed to creative thinking and intercultural performance for future generations. She is a founding member of Pacific and Asian Women’s
Alliance and has worked closely with the Wisconsin Organization of Asian Americans (WOAA). In 1994, she received the Woman of Achievement Award from the
Wisconsin Minority Women’s Network for her work as an artist, activist and scholar.
LE ONDRA CLARK
In 2003, Le Ondra Clark was admitted to UW-Madison’s PhD program in Counseling Psychology, and is on schedule to graduate in 2010. Noting the myriad
roles that this high-achieving student has filled since her first semester, her faculty mentor, seeing both academic excellence and promise in the fledgling
graduate student, invited Le Ondra to co-author an article on African American women’s attitudes toward mental illness and mental health services. With the
article now under review for publication in the Journal of Qualitative Health Research, Le Ondra should shortly join the ranks of published scholars. As a member
of her faculty mentor’s research team, she serves as the group facilitator for one of the cognitive behavioral group counseling interventions which is designed to
treat depression in African American women 60 years and older. She also provides clinical services to the Madison community in her work at the Mental Health
Center of Dane County, where for the past three years she has been Child and Family Specialist. Le Ondra is a Fellow of the American Psychological
Association (APA) Minority Fellowship Program as well as student member, leader and representative of Divisions 17, 35, and 45 of the APA, on top of her status
as the current UW-Madison Campus Representative to the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students. Her leadership in the Association of Black
Psychologists has resulted in two successful mentoring programs, the first a roundtable mentoring hour for students and professional members; the second a
“Virtual Jegnaship” program which allows students and professional members to use technology to facilitate mentoring relationships nation-wide. Based on her
strong leadership skills, student members of ABPSI voted Le Ondra as the Chairperson-elect (vice-president) of the Association of Black Psychologists Student
Circle. She will assume her duties as Chairperson (president) next year.
May Lee Moua-Vue
In March 2007, a Law School crisis of sorts erupted over the strenuous objection by Hmong Law students to their perceived derogatory remarks by a Law
professor in a lecture about Hmong people and culture. Subsequent discussion led to what became a metaphor for the validation by the university of the Hmong
experience and presence in our multicultural society. With May Lee Moua-Vue’s liaison work and advocacy, the Hmong exodus story quilt, or paj ntaub, was
purchased as a part of the university’s art and historical collection. As Student Services Coordinator and International Student Advisor, May Lee has filled the
major responsibilities of issuing immigration documents in accordance with federal student visa regulations, and advising international students on relations
pertaining to their visa status. For out-of-class learning opportunities, she also serves as office liaison to GUTS, UW Housing, The Wisconsin Experience Grant
Committee and the Multicultural Student Center (MSC). Responding to student needs, May Lee aspired to develop a program that would bring international
students together with domestic students to provide a peer mentor learning experience that would foster on-going cross-cultural friendships. These comments led
May Lee to create the Building Relationships in Diverse Global Environments program, BRIDGE. May Lee has made it an objective to recruit American students
of color to become involved in the program in hopes that doing so may encourage more students of color to study abroad and further explore global
opportunities. By encouraging American minority students to participate, BRIDGE seeks to help new international students understand the many diverse cultures,
values, and traditions that form today’s America.
Sheri Williams Pannell
Sheri Williams Pannell is an artist and has an active and successful career as a sex education instructor in the Milwaukee Public Schools. As one of only a
few professional African American female theatre artists in the city of Milwaukee, she has been a mentor and instructor for the African American Children’s
Theatre for over six years and is a frequent guest director for the First Stage Theatre Academy, the second largest children’s theatre in the country. Sheri is the
go-to person for developing new works that feature the untold stories of African American heroes and heroines. Her most recent project with First Stage was
directing the critically acclaimed 2008 adaptation of the prize-winning novel, The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis. With regard to her
campus contributions, Sheri is equally impressive; she recently made history by becoming the first graduate student from Theatre & Drama and a person of color
to direct for the University Opera with the fall’s 2008 production of The Merry Widow. In addition, Sheri was responsible for the University Theatre’s highly
successful 2007 production of Dael Orlandersmith’s YellowMan, an emotionally charged drama about the intra-racial discrimination Within the African
American community. Sheri is also the director of 10 PERFECT, inspired by the life of Dr. James Cameron – the only known survivor of a lynching in U.S.
history. Under Sheri’s direction, the play was chosen to be part of the 2006 Madison Repertory Theatre’s New Playwright’s Festival, in addition to being a feature
presentation at the 2007 National Conference on Race & Ethnicity.
JANICE RICE
Officially, the College Library’s Outreach Coordinator, Janice has more broadly served the university and the community as an educator, a resource person,
a role model and a mentor. In her role as librarian, Janice invites students to learn about American Indian culture — both in book form and through the use of
technology. She also has a worldview that helps students contextualize American Indian history and culture. Honored by on- and off-campus groups, she is
described as knowledgeable, resourceful, tireless, positive, generous and gracious.
Janice Rice is counted among community leaders inspired to create a better world for American Indians. While attending UW-Madison, she forever
changed the campus community by helping found the first Native American student organization, and establishing the first Pow Wow at UW-Madison.
Recognizing the value of American Indian Studies, and Indigenous languages and cultures, Janice helped elevate the recognition of American Indian
knowledge cultures on our campus. She continues to do this almost thirty years later as a professional and vital community member, guiding and supporting
almost every American Indian community effort.
In 2002, Janice co-chaired the American Indian Campus Symposium at UW-Madison, which communicated American Indian community priorities to the
UW-Madison administration in a twelve-point summary of these priorities. This process contributed significantly to the development of the American Indian
Cultural and Student Center, which is scheduled to open at UW-Madison in the fall of 2009.
Along with influencing the institutional developments involving the American Indian campus community, Janice filled a central role in the UW-Madison’s
annual 2008 Diversity Forum that remains beyond description. With the university’s increasing awareness and interest in the 12,000-year human history of its
grounds, Janice supported nearly every committee of the Diversity Forum as the forum highlighted aspects of American Indian histories, languages, and
contemporary cultures. The forum communicated these aspects to the central administration of campus and the greater campus community in ways meaningful
both to the American Indian and non-Native participants alike.
moving us away from war, violence, and lifestyles devoid of the care-taking spirit. Outside the university, Peggy exemplifies her message through the Ki Project,
an organization committed to creative thinking and intercultural performance for future generations. She is a founding member of Pacific and Asian Women’s
Alliance and has worked closely with the Wisconsin Organization of Asian Americans (WOAA). In 1994, she received the Woman of Achievement Award from the
Wisconsin Minority Women’s Network for her work as an artist, activist and scholar.
LE ONDRA CLARK
In 2003, Le Ondra Clark was admitted to UW-Madison’s PhD program in Counseling Psychology, and is on schedule to graduate in 2010. Noting the myriad
roles that this high-achieving student has filled since her first semester, her faculty mentor, seeing both academic excellence and promise in the fledgling
graduate student, invited Le Ondra to co-author an article on African American women’s attitudes toward mental illness and mental health services. With the
article now under review for publication in the Journal of Qualitative Health Research, Le Ondra should shortly join the ranks of published scholars. As a member
of her faculty mentor’s research team, she serves as the group facilitator for one of the cognitive behavioral group counseling interventions which is designed to
treat depression in African American women 60 years and older. She also provides clinical services to the Madison community in her work at the Mental Health
Center of Dane County, where for the past three years she has been Child and Family Specialist. Le Ondra is a Fellow of the American Psychological
Association (APA) Minority Fellowship Program as well as student member, leader and representative of Divisions 17, 35, and 45 of the APA, on top of her status
as the current UW-Madison Campus Representative to the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students. Her leadership in the Association of Black
Psychologists has resulted in two successful mentoring programs, the first a roundtable mentoring hour for students and professional members; the second a
“Virtual Jegnaship” program which allows students and professional members to use technology to facilitate mentoring relationships nation-wide. Based on her
strong leadership skills, student members of ABPSI voted Le Ondra as the Chairperson-elect (vice-president) of the Association of Black Psychologists Student
Circle. She will assume her duties as Chairperson (president) next year.
May Lee Moua-Vue
In March 2007, a Law School crisis of sorts erupted over the strenuous objection by Hmong Law students to their perceived derogatory remarks by a Law
professor in a lecture about Hmong people and culture. Subsequent discussion led to what became a metaphor for the validation by the university of the Hmong
experience and presence in our multicultural society. With May Lee Moua-Vue’s liaison work and advocacy, the Hmong exodus story quilt, or paj ntaub, was
purchased as a part of the university’s art and historical collection. As Student Services Coordinator and International Student Advisor, May Lee has filled the
major responsibilities of issuing immigration documents in accordance with federal student visa regulations, and advising international students on relations
pertaining to their visa status. For out-of-class learning opportunities, she also serves as office liaison to GUTS, UW Housing, The Wisconsin Experience Grant
Committee and the Multicultural Student Center (MSC). Responding to student needs, May Lee aspired to develop a program that would bring international
students together with domestic students to provide a peer mentor learning experience that would foster on-going cross-cultural friendships. These comments led
May Lee to create the Building Relationships in Diverse Global Environments program, BRIDGE. May Lee has made it an objective to recruit American students
of color to become involved in the program in hopes that doing so may encourage more students of color to study abroad and further explore global
opportunities. By encouraging American minority students to participate, BRIDGE seeks to help new international students understand the many diverse cultures,
values, and traditions that form today’s America.
Sheri Williams Pannell
Sheri Williams Pannell is an artist and has an active and successful career as a sex education instructor in the Milwaukee Public Schools. As one of only a
few professional African American female theatre artists in the city of Milwaukee, she has been a mentor and instructor for the African American Children’s
Theatre for over six years and is a frequent guest director for the First Stage Theatre Academy, the second largest children’s theatre in the country. Sheri is the
go-to person for developing new works that feature the untold stories of African American heroes and heroines. Her most recent project with First Stage was
directing the critically acclaimed 2008 adaptation of the prize-winning novel, The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis. With regard to her
campus contributions, Sheri is equally impressive; she recently made history by becoming the first graduate student from Theatre & Drama and a person of color
to direct for the University Opera with the fall’s 2008 production of The Merry Widow. In addition, Sheri was responsible for the University Theatre’s highly
successful 2007 production of Dael Orlandersmith’s YellowMan, an emotionally charged drama about the intra-racial discrimination Within the African
American community. Sheri is also the director of 10 PERFECT, inspired by the life of Dr. James Cameron – the only known survivor of a lynching in U.S.
history. Under Sheri’s direction, the play was chosen to be part of the 2006 Madison Repertory Theatre’s New Playwright’s Festival, in addition to being a feature
presentation at the 2007 National Conference on Race & Ethnicity.
JANICE RICE
Officially, the College Library’s Outreach Coordinator, Janice has more broadly served the university and the community as an educator, a resource person,
a role model and a mentor. In her role as librarian, Janice invites students to learn about American Indian culture — both in book form and through the use of
technology. She also has a worldview that helps students contextualize American Indian history and culture. Honored by on- and off-campus groups, she is
described as knowledgeable, resourceful, tireless, positive, generous and gracious.
Janice Rice is counted among community leaders inspired to create a better world for American Indians. While attending UW-Madison, she forever
changed the campus community by helping found the first Native American student organization, and establishing the first Pow Wow at UW-Madison.
Recognizing the value of American Indian Studies, and Indigenous languages and cultures, Janice helped elevate the recognition of American Indian
knowledge cultures on our campus. She continues to do this almost thirty years later as a professional and vital community member, guiding and supporting
almost every American Indian community effort.
In 2002, Janice co-chaired the American Indian Campus Symposium at UW-Madison, which communicated American Indian community priorities to the
UW-Madison administration in a twelve-point summary of these priorities. This process contributed significantly to the development of the American Indian
Cultural and Student Center, which is scheduled to open at UW-Madison in the fall of 2009.
Along with influencing the institutional developments involving the American Indian campus community, Janice filled a central role in the UW-Madison’s
annual 2008 Diversity Forum that remains beyond description. With the university’s increasing awareness and interest in the 12,000-year human history of its
grounds, Janice supported nearly every committee of the Diversity Forum as the forum highlighted aspects of American Indian histories, languages, and
contemporary cultures. The forum communicated these aspects to the central administration of campus and the greater campus community in ways meaningful
both to the American Indian and non-Native participants alike.