The Outstanding High School Student Award went to Damaris Taylor, a senior at Greenville High School Academy. Along with being an exceptional student and school president, Taylor has displayed leadership skills far beyond his years.

He conceptualized and planned the Raider Diversity Retreat, a three-day, overnight event representing the school’s truly diverse student body. From student and site selection to fundraising efforts that ensured that the retreat would be at no cost, Taylor coordinated an effort that continues to have long lasting, positive effects on the Greenville High community. The program’s success has not gone unnoticed, it is being developed as a model for the 15 other high schools in the county and spawned Greenville High School’s ongoing “Diversity Initiative.”

Throughout his high school career, Taylor has led by example. He has attended numerous leadership programs including Bridges to a Brighter Future where he was named co-valedictorian of his 2007 Bridges program. Serving as student body president, he has shown a willingness to lead his peers, take on tough topics, and unite students, teachers, and parents resulting in $106,000 for local charities. It is clear that Taylor displays a rare leadership quality, true vision.

In the fall, Taylor will attend Harvard University.

Ladarius Thompson was honored with the Outstanding College Student Award. Thompson has shown a genuine passion for diversity both on the USC Upstate campus and in the Greater Spartanburg community. Regardless of his many academic and co-curricular responsibilities, Thompson always finds time to involve himself and engage others in diversity matters. He has facilitated a film series, which challenges others to think seriously about diversity. Additionally, he has led open and honest discussions regarding difficult diversity issues.

Thompson has been actively involved with the University’s Safe Zone Program, the One World/One Upstate Program, and the National Coalition Building Institute Training Program. In addition, Thompson has served as a member of the Multicultural Advisory Board at the institution, is a member of the South Carolina Equality Coalition, a community assistant to a housing complex, student government senator, a NCBI team leader, and is an executive officer with American Humanics and PRIDE – a gay/straight alliance.

Thompson is exceptionally committed to promoting an appreciation for diversity and an acceptance of human differences.

The Triune Mercy Center received the Outstanding Non-Profit Organization Award. The Triune Mercy Center was founded in 1989 when members of the former Triune United Methodist Church began organizing weekend meals for the homeless and hungry in the community surrounding the church. Today, the non-profit Triune Mercy Center provides life-transforming help to people in the “homeless triangle” of Greenville’s west side and to those arriving weekly from other cities and from the South Carolina Department of Corrections.

Triune is both a church -- where the homeless participate in worship, Bible study, support groups, Narcotics Anonymous meetings and volunteer work -- and a non-profit agency where they receive four hot meals a week, clothes, toiletries, blankets and laundry services. Triune also offers drug rehabilitation referrals.

For those who succeed in recovery and for the non-addicted, Triune offers assistance in finding jobs or other sources of income, and housing. Triune partners with approximately 40 churches, which its board and staff believe is an important part of their ministry.

The Triune board and staff deliberately seek to create a safe place where people of all races and socio-economic levels can work and be together on even ground. When visitors from other churches or groups come in, they depend on Triune parishioners – who may have spent the previous night under a bridge, in the woods or in an abandoned building – to show them what to do.

Walgreens Anderson Distribution Center was honored with the Outstanding Business Award. Walgreens is the nation’s largest drugstore chain, and the Walgreens Distribution Center in Anderson is a $175 million investment, which opened for operation in June of 2007. The distribution center was built to support the company’s expansion in the southeast, and it is the first facility of its kind to employ and engage a significant number of people with disabilities.

Walgreens set out with the goal of hiring 30 percent of its production workforce from the disabled population. Most of their employees with disabilities have never held a job, but at Walgreen’s they earn the same pay and benefits as other employees for the same work.

Due to Walgreens’ commitment to diversity, they exceeded their goal of hiring 30 percent disabled workers. Today, more than thirty-eight percent of the current workforce has a physical or cognitive disability. Since the opening of the Walgreens distribution center, the center has been the subject of two special features regarding the hiring of people with disabilities. The NBC Nightly News and ABC World News Tonight have featured the Walgreens Distribution Center’s focus on diversity. We salute Walgreens for their efforts to improving the quality of life through inclusion and diversity.

The Hispanic-American Women’s Association received the Outstanding Contribution to International Diversity Award. The Hispanic-American Women’s Association, known as AHAM, was formed in 1998 when a group of Hispanic professional women recognized a need to form an organization that would promote cultural awareness throughout the community while simultaneously preserving their traditions, language, and ties to their motherland. AHAM’s mission is to unite the Spanish-speaking community in Upstate South Carolina, to organize activities that allow the Hispanic community to share its language, culture and folklore with others, and to raise money to provide educational opportunities for students of Hispanic origin through scholarships.

AHAM is an organization of 77 diverse, dynamic, professional Hispanic women who enjoy sharing their culture and language with others.

Education has been at the forefront of AHAM’s community efforts. AHAM believes that education is the key component in promoting diversity, in breaking down barriers between different cultures, and in improving the lives of both Hispanic youth and Hispanic families in Upstate South Carolina.

Dr. Harry B. Shucker was honored with the Calder D. Ehrmann Outstanding Individual Award, recognizing an individual for outstanding achievement in promoting diversity. Shucker has promoted diversity in this community since he began his career at Furman University in 1968. As vice president of Student Services for 22 years, he is the university’s longest tenured vice president. Regardless of whether he was responsible for making decisions about the demographic make up of Furman’s student population or tending to the needs of financially challenged students and their families, he has remained highly committed to creating a student body that is religiously, ethnically, racially, geographically, and socio-economically diverse. As director of Financial Aid, he increased utilization of work-study funds by 50 percent.

As VP for Student Services, Shucker established in the 1980s the Office of Multicultural Affairs at Furman to address the needs of students who represent ethnic and racial minorities. His commitment to diversity has been acknowledged by the university, who awarded him its Service to Multicultural Students Award in 2007 and by students, who have thrice acknowledged him with the Maiden Invitation Award, in recognition of providing a welcoming environment for all students, in 1993, 1999, and 2004. For four decades, the university community has admired and appreciated this man who has done so much to promote a diverse student body and provide a warm and nurturing environment for all students to grow and succeed. His professional accolades that have resulted from his service are too numerous to mention this evening.

This recipient was once quoted, “Anytime you are given the opportunity to have a positive effect on the life of another, that is truly a ‘sacred moment.’ Mayor Knox White recognized January 25, 2008 as a day named in his honor in recognition of exceptional contributions to Furman University and to the improvement of the Greenville community.

For more information about the Upstate Diversity Leadership Awards, please contact Cathy Stevens at the Riley Institute® at Furman at 864-294-3265.

The Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce is a voluntary, non-profit organization of businesses and professionals in Greenville County and the surrounding Upstate dedicated to promoting a preeminent business community: supporting innovation, collaboration and success by all businesses, small to large; providing vision, leadership and programs necessary for a progressive and diverse economy and quality of life. For more information on the Greenville Chamber, call 864-242-1050.

(Image provided by Furman.)

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