Ralvell Rogers II, senior English major, recently won the Presidential Award for Distinguished Service to Diversity. The award was given out at the beginning of the Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome lecture by Joy DeGruy last Thursday.

“Rogers is a positive force in our community, a leader in diversity, and that makes him an extraordinary student candidate for this award,” said Kevin Rabas, chair of the English, modern languages and journalism department and professor of English, in a letter nominating Rogers for the award.

Rogers is the founder and president of the Black Artist’s Club, a member of the Black Student Union and works as a vice chairman in the Union Activities Council for the ‘Talks and Topics’ committee that helps bring in guest speakers.

“I am graduating so my whole goal right now is to get as many members as we can to get involved, and it doesn’t matter what your background is, you don’t have to be black to be part of Black Writer’s Club,” Rogers said. “The whole idea is to create a forum to inform students and the Hornet community on black art.”

Throughout his college career, Rogers has been an editing and marketing correspondent for Meadowlark books, an editor for “The Quest,” another local publication, and also held multiple positions in the past at The Bulletin. 

“I’ve been deeply impressed with how he handles himself, how he handles other people, how he creates diverse communities around himself,” said Amy Sage Webb, professor of English, modern languages and journalism, who also nominated Rogers for the award.

Rogers also worked as a Resident Assistant on campus at ESU for one year. It was an all-male floor, and it was a diverse community, Rogers said.

“You have to work with a lot of different students, and you have to be able to be empathetic towards people from different backgrounds, and different identities,” Rogers said. “That was a great experience.”

“It was a great honor to receive the award,” Rogers said.