MOSAIC Award

The MOSAIC Team at Anderson University established the MOSAIC award in 2012 to recognize individuals within the university who embody the ideal of “modeling and promoting a work-learning environment in which all persons feel welcomed and affirmed on the journey toward intercultural competence.” Nominations are accepted in April each year.

2023: Dr. Timothy Fox
2022: Dianna Stankiewicz
2020: Zina Teague
2019: Suzanne Frank

Suzanne Frank, Student Financial Services Counselor, embodies the spirit of intercultural humility at every level and in every way. Sue values each individual student and is sensitive to their needs. And, as the students say, “Sue Frank is great!”

2018: Linda Robertson
Mrs. Linda Robertson is the Administrative Assistant in the Cultural Resource Center at Anderson University. Linda has been a Pastor’s wife, Para-Professional Librarian, and has worked in the currency and stock markets. Most recently she was a missionary in Ecuador, where a few of her responsibilities included serving as the Director of the Seminary Library and Assistant Director of the Children of Promise Program. She is married to Dr. Gregory Robertson, Associate Professor of Christian Theology at the School of Theology. They have two third-culture kids, who are graduates of Anderson University.
2017: Sarah Neal
Sarah Neal teaches Community Health Nursing at Anderson University in the School of Nursing, where she teaches concepts related to population health and global health issues. She collaborates with local health and social service organizations to provide clinical experiences for students in which they care for aggregates facing disparities in health. She coordinates Service Learning activities to meet critical health care needs of the community, including mass vaccination clinics and targeted health promotion programs in schools, churches, and community agencies. Prof. Neal routinely takes senior nursing students to the Jewish communities in Indianapolis, IN and Skokie, Il for a 2-week intercultural trip focusing on the religious and cultural traditions that affect nursing care given to patients in the Jewish culture.

Professor Neal has presented at State and National conferences on areas related to public health, nursing education, and Service Learning. She is currently enrolled in the Doctor of Nursing Practice program at Indiana State University, with a focus on public health.

Sarah Neal has been at Anderson University since 2000.

2016: Dr. Aleza Beverly & Willie Kant
Dr. Aleza Beverly, Dean for Intercultural Engagement, came to Anderson University in 1989 and will conclude her service when she retires at the end of August.  Aleza was a founding participant in Anderson University’s work on diversity and reconciliation. With deep ties in the National Association of the Church of God she has served as a bridge-builder within the African American community of the Church of God. Dr. Beverly has also served to build stronger connections with the African American community right here in the City of Anderson and Madison County. She was one of the initiators of the university’s recognition of MLK Day Jr. as an official holiday and “Day of Service.” With a dissertation focused on the recruitment and retention of faculty and staff of color, Dr. Beverly accepted an invitation to serve over these last several years as Dean of Intercultural Engagement. In this role she helped to create more diverse pools of candidates for faculty and staff positions.  Dr. Beverly has been a champion, a collaborator, a hopeful person in the challenging work of diversity initiatives, a joyful person at the small victories, and a friend to countless students, particularly many of our students of color. Given her long-standing commitment to helping Anderson University become a more interculturally responsive campus, her leadership of the MOSAIC team and MLK Jr. Day programming, and her teaching in the areas of cultural diversity it is the MOSAIC team’s pleasure to award one of this year’s MOSAIC awards to Dr. Aleza Beverly.

Willi Kant, Director of the Center for Intercultural and International Studies. Most of us probably know Willi best as the “Tri-S guy.” For over 18 years Willi has been a resident anthropologist and directed the university’s study abroad program, inclusive of Tri-S trips, academic cross-cultural trips, and study abroad. As a trained administrator and interpreter of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) he has provided assessment of intercultural competence to the students in the Department of Modern Foreign Languages and other groups on campus wishing to use this tool for cultural awareness.  Willi has successfully promoted 590 Tri-S trips with approximately 7,558 students taking advantage of this significantly experiential learning experience. Willi’s approach to developing an interculturally competent campus is always thoughtful, informed, and gracious. In recognition of the significant impact Willi has had in opening the minds and hearts of so many students the MOSAIC team is delighted to award to him one of this year’s MOSAIC awards.

2015: Dr. Lynn Schmidt
Since 2011, when Dr. Lynn Schmidt began working toward a PhD in nursing education essentially the entirety of her scholarly focus has been not only to find the most effective methods to prepare students to care for diverse populations but to help find efficient, cost conscientious ways to do so. The actual stated purpose of her doctoral dissertation is ”to explore the impact of an intercultural learning experience (domestic or international) on pre-Ji censure nursing students ‘ perceived development of transcultural self-efficacy.” Schmidt’s efforts intentionally foster the values of diversity and racial harmony which are so deeply rooted in the history and theology of Anderson University and the Church of God.

In her pursuit of improved healthcare for minority populations, she has been invited to and represented Anderson University at national conferences. Schmidt has spoken at the National League for Nurses Headquarters regarding the policy and curricular issues related to incorporating intercultural experiences within nursing curriculum. This was an opportunity to push on a national level policy and curricular issues to make diversity more than a popular word to actually improve the lives of underserved patients. Similarly, she was invited to present at the National League for Nurses Educational Summit Global Service Leaming workshop in Washington D.C. Their focus was pointed to assist educators to develop and sustain intercultural programs in schools of nursing. Schmidt has engaged in scholarship or professional development that has been helpful in educating the community of the School of Nursing and beyond on the issues of cross-cultural teaching and learning. ln her national speaking efforts, she has served as an advocate and change agent for marginalized communities.

2014: Dr. Marian Osborne Berky
Berky taught  Christian theology and ethics. In her teaching and in her work leading the PACT program, she consistently modeled and promoted the MOSAIC ideal of “a work-learning environment in which all persons feel welcomed and affirmed on the journey toward intercultural competence.”

Berky was an early advocate for Anderson University’s recognition of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Day of Service, and she has been active in planning and supporting the local activities that mark that occasion. With the Student Peace Initiative and through the PACT Program, she has provided opportunities for students and others to attend conferences and workshops, and she has brought speakers to campus for Chapel and other events, all of which contribute to “intentionally fostering the values of diversity and racial harmony which are so deeply rooted in the history and theology of Anderson University and the Church of God.”

From sharing her home in order to provide housing for international students, to opening her office to a wide range of students who have found there a safe place to explore new ways of thinking and living with regard to the big questions of faith, ethics, justice, and community, Dr. Berky has “extend[ed] hospitality by interacting in meaningful ways with persons (students, faculty, and/or staff) whose lives have been shaped by cultures different from their own.” Berky’s scholarship focuses on a range of issues involving equality, justice, and reconciliation. She has worked with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and she regularly participates with the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University through their Summer Peacebuilding Institute. In these and other ways, Dr. Berky is consistently “engaging in scholarship or professional development that will be helpful in educating the campus community on issues of reconciliation, cross-cultural teaching and learning, and/or racial justice.”

Berky was selected to participate in a Council of Independent Colleges Seminar on Teaching Interfaith Understanding co-sponsored by CIC and the Interfaith Youth Corps. In this week-long seminar, faculty from around the U.S. will consider ways in which interfaith understanding can be taught effectively in the college classroom. She also recently completed the requirements for and will be awarded a Graduate Certificate in Conflict Transformation at Eastern Mennonite University’s spring commencement.

2013: Dr. Stuart Erny
In the 12 years since he joined the AU staff, Dr. Stuart Erny has consistently been involved with students who come from diverse backgrounds or hold diverse perspectives.

“This comes somewhat naturally through his experiences as an MK raised in Taiwan and his own two years of service, along with his wife Christine, as missionaries with the organization Word Made Flesh,” said Dr. Brent Baker, vice president for student affairs.

Erny has served in a variety of roles on campus, including co-founding and leading AU-East Africa efforts, serving on the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration Committee, serving as a mentor to freshman football players who are young men of color, and providing friendship and advocacy to many students in need of acceptance, assistance, and faith-focused conversation. In his role as director of campus ministries, Erny worked to provide a variety of service opportunities for students. He now serves as Director of International Student Services and assumes co-leadership of the PACT program, along with Dr. Dan Allen.

2012: Dr. Donald Boggs
Dr. Donald Boggs, retired professor of communication and general manager of Covenant Productions®, came to Anderson University in 1978. During his tenure he has traveled to more than 40 countries, providing consultation in the area of communications. Boggs directed the award-winning documentary, A Ripple of Hope, which tells the powerful story of race relations, leadership, and the nonviolent impact in Indianapolis of boldly acknowledging the tragedy of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. His most recent trip was to Haiti to expose the weaknesses in Haiti’s infrastructure and to work with the Haitian people in improving communications through a nine-station network.

Over the years, Boggs has impacted the lives of countless members of the community and his own students in following the truth in a story wherever it may lead and always respecting the people group with whom he is working. In this process of storytelling, Boggs actively enlists his students, giving them “real world” professional experience.

Chris Witt, a 2003 AU graduate and award-winning film editor, traveled to Honduras and Brazil with Boggs on a documentary project. Witt said, “I was able to work on my storytelling and I gained perspective on cultures outside of AU.” Darcy Noonan, a 2009 AU graduate, traveled to the Philippines in 2008 to produce a documentary for Children of Promise. Noonan said, “When you tell someone’s story, it changes how you look at where you are and what you’re doing.”

Boggs holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts from the University of Akron, and a Ph.D. from Kent State University.

Award Criteria

The ideal award recipient will be a person who has demonstrated their commitment to intercultural competency in ways that include, but are not limited to:

  • Intentionally fostering the values of diversity and racial harmony which are so deeply rooted in the history and theology of Anderson University and the Church of God.
  • Extending hospitality by interacting in meaningful ways with persons (students, faculty, and/or staff) whose lives have been shaped by cultures different from their own.
  • Engaging in scholarship or professional development that will be helpful in educating the campus community on issues of reconciliation, cross-cultural teaching and learning, and/or racial justice.
  • Serving as an advocate and change agent for marginalized communities.
  • Challenging individuals to recognize automatic assumptions, perceptions, and stereotypes about people with different cultural worldviews.

View the full award description.