Two Cumberland University Faculty Members Receive Omicron Delta Kappa Awards
Sheridan Henson and Kent Hallman Recognized
Lexington, VA (12/09/2021) — Two members of the Cumberland University (CU) faculty were recognized on December 3, 2021, with awards from Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK).
Kent Hallman, assistant professor of history at Cumberland, created the institution's Celebrating Voices program in 2020. Hallman and this program were selected as the 2021 recipients of ODK's Andristine M. Robinson Champion Award for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity. The program's first session brought Dr. Ernest "Rip" Patton, Jr. to campus to discuss his experiences as a legendary Freedom Rider in 1961. The second session program celebrated the growing and thriving community of Hispanic students at Cumberland. The third activity was facilitated to bring greater attention to the university's annual Holocaust Remember Day. The Celebrating Voices program has given a voice to several elements of the institution's slowly growing and diverse campus population and provides the necessary building blocks for the educational betterment of the school's students, faculty, staff, and surrounding community.
Sheridan W. S. Henson, executive director of academic support at Cumberland, received the 2021 ODK Robert L. Morlan - Robert Bishop Outstanding Advisor Award. In addition to being a long-time advisor to the CU Circle, he has been a member of ODK's National Awards Committee and the Mission Committee. In the current academic year, Henson is chairing the Society's National Awards Committee. As a campus leader at Cumberland, he directs the Academic Success Center, which contains the offices of Student Success, Career Services and Internships, the Chaplain, Retention and Tennessee Promise Services, and the Writing Center.