University Honors Undergraduate Women for Leadership

Among the women honors as finalists by the University of Cincinnati at the recent C-Ring Awards were

• A woman whose passion led her to serve underprivileged children in Antigua.
  
• The first female undergraduate student body president in more than two decades.
  
• A student who created an on-campus community that promotes healthy living in young college women. T

The UC Women’s Center celebrated five exceptional senior women on April 11 as part of the 2015 C-Ring Awards, the highest honor bestowed upon graduating female students.

“C-Ring celebrates UC women who are doing gender justice work to change the world and its legacy at UC is something we should all celebrate,” said Amy Howton, interim director of the UC Women’s Center.

The finalists for the 2015 C-Ring Awards were

• Tamika Jones, winner

McMicken College of Arts & Sciences, Spanish and communications major

Carl H. Lindner College of Business, marketing minor

• Christina Beer, finalist

Carl H. Lindner College of Business, information systems and finance major

• Kathe Pocker, finalist

College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, biomedical engineering major

• Sarah Clem, finalist

Carl H. Lindner College of Business, marketing and entrepreneurship major

C-Ring finalists must be nominated for the award, and have a minimum 3.4 grade point average to be eligible for the award. Beyond academic excellence, finalists are chosen because of their advocacy for women and their commitment to better the campus community.

The awards ceremony, hosted in the African American Cultural and Resource Center, celebrated the achievements of women and while remembering the strong history that women have played at the university.

Provost Beverly Davenport, who attended the event, commended the five finalists for their contributions to the university community and their commitment to women’s rights and leadership. While some women wait until later in life to take on formal leadership roles, Davenport said she was impressed with the ways these students are changing their communities right away.

“All of these women have already made their mark,” Davenport said. “They’re already leading.”

Reception attendees included last year’s C-Ring recipient Stephanie Lux and 1953 C-Ring recipient Connie Kling Hanna. Lux, who received her bachelors of science in nursing and served as the co-president of UC’s chapter of GlobeMed, presented the 2015 C-Ring Award to Tamika Jones.

The event focused on a woman whose service to others and selflessness has impacted not only students at UC but girls and boys in indigenous communities in foreign countries.

Jones, the C-Ring winner and a student in both the McMicken College of Arts & Sciences and the Carl H. Lindner College of Business, exemplifies what it means to be “an active global citizen bridging the gap of misunderstanding and language barriers to bring people together.”

She participated in a service-learning trip to Antigua, Guatemala, where she served at the “Asociacion del Proyecto Las Flores,” a nonprofit organization that aids underprivileged children and single mothers.

There, she provided primary education to children and taught community members about nutrition and healthy lifestyles. Her Spanish training at UC helped her encourage and uplift single mothers in the community, she said.

When Jones accepted the award, she said her work was deeply influenced by her own upbringing. She was raised by a single mother and could empathize with the women and children in the community she helped during her travels.

Locally, she served as a mentor for the Brothers & Sisters Excelling (BASE) Program through the AACRC, participated as a member of the Bearcat Band, was actively involved in the Emerging Ethnic Leaders Program and landed placement within the highly esteemed FBI Honors Internship Program.

Jones also excelled academically at UC as a Darwin T. Turner Scholar and a member of the Lambda Pi Eta-National Communication Association.

According to her nominator, Ligia Gomez of Romance Languages, Jones “mastered the art of time management because she successfully balances her academics, extracurricular activities and community service projects.”

Howton said the C-Ring Award highlights work that is often made invisible as “leadership” continues to be seen in gendered terms.

“C-Ring celebrates UC women like Tamika who are doing gender justice work to change the world, and its legacy at UC is something we should all celebrate,” Howton said.

When Jones stood up to accept the C-Ring Award, she thanked the senior women sitting beside her, her mentors, professors and the family that has supported her along her journey.

“Your past, your history, do not define you,” she said.