From the Nominator

"On September 10, 2022, the Villanova Office of Alumni Relations and the Villanova University Black Alumni (VUBA) affinity network collaborated on the first-ever Moulden Honors Award Ceremony, which celebrated the legacy of Black excellence and achievement, as well as intercultural collaboration within the university community.   

VUBA volunteer leaders worked closely with alumni relations to ensure the evening featured distinctive elements from typical Villanova events. This included the naming of the event and awards program after a Black Catholic couple pivotal to Villanova’s history, using a special black and gold design for communications, and the diverse food selection and the integration of cultural performances between award presentations. The attention to authenticity and festivity reinforced for members of the Black Villanova community—many of whom felt disengaged from the broader university culture—that this event was created around them. Peer-to-peer outreach from VUBA as well as key campus diversity partners, in addition to official Villanova communications, also enhanced community buy-in around the event.   

Because VUBA took an active leadership role and paid 80 percent of the event costs, staff time and budget investment were very low compared to similar caliber campus awards events.   

This unique, collaborative on-campus event not only engaged 162 attendees that evening, but it also spurred action post-event. One alumnus made a nearly $25,000 donation to VUBA following his attendance, while another was inspired to partner with VUBA on re-engaging the first classes of Black alumni from the 1960s/70s, now formally known as the VUBA Legacies."

From the Judges

The panel felt this was a solid execution of a good idea. As the first event of its kind for your institution, the judges understand the amount of energy and resources it takes to create momentum for new programming and commend you for this effort and congratulate you on your results. The panel felt that this could serve as a model for other institutions which are looking for programming that advances their engagement of members of their institutional community who are underrepresented. They were particularly fond of your commitment to increasing engagement not just as an outcome of the event, but also during the planning process.