The Resource Center for Persons With Disabilities' (RCPD)'s Psychiatric/Brain Injury Specialist, Stoney Polman, Receives the Individual Award for Excellence in Sustained Effort Toward Diversity
On Thursday, April 19th, 2001, RCPD's Psychiatric/Brain Injury Specialist Stoney Polman was presented with the Individual Award for Excellence in Sustained Effort toward Diversity. Divided into three categories, including Emerging, Sustained and Lifelong, the Diversity Award is designed to honor those who have devoted their lives to promoting personal and cultural diversity in all societies. Although she was originally nominated for recognition by RCPD's Valerie Nilson, numerous supporting letters from colleagues belonging to various agencies and university departments attest that Stoney exemplifies the award's standards within both her private and professional life.
A Native American, who has never lost sight of her roots, Stoney is well known for championing the concerns and rights of people of color. With admirable constancy, she has done her utmost to facilitate educational opportunities for racial/ethnic minorities. Among others, she is a participant in such recruitment programs as the Pre-College Upward Bound Program, which is dedicated to encouraging college enrollment among students underserved populations, and the Michigan Indian Leadership program, which offers Native American students a week of pre-enrollment exposure to the resources and environment available on MSU's campus. Nor does her involvement slacken once these prospective students reach the university. Through various supportive groups, she assists in insuring both student retention and the improvement of student life for people of color on campus. She is a staff supporter and advisor to the North American Indian Student Organization (NAISO) and was involved in instituting the Native American Residence Program (Aanii), which strives to combine American Indian students with a localized living environment rich in Native American culture. More importantly, Stoney offers generously of her freetime, hospitality and home cooking to individuals. In addition, she also grants her counsel and experience to her colleagues and the public at large. During her time at MSU, Stoney has maintained close ties to the American Indian Faculty and Staff Association (EAGLE) and serves as a member of the Gay and Lesbian Faculty Staff Association's board. Off campus, she is a regular participant in annual public pow wows, a part of the Michigan Jobs Commission State-wide Advisory Board for minority Recruitment and Retention and served as the President of the Board of Directors for Nokomis American Indian Learning Center in Meridian Township.
Incredibly, Stoney is as active in the disabled community as she is in the field of racial/ethnic and gender concerns. At MSU, she has served as a Coordinator in the Office of Student Affairs and as the Outreach Coordinator of Minority and Women Veterans With Service Connected Disabilities. In 1998, she was appointed as a member to the university's President's Advisory Committee on Disability Issues (PACDI) serving as chairperson. On a National level, Stoney has delivered multiple training programs as a member of the Multicultural Committee of the National Association of Protection and Advocacy Governing board, the Administration on Developmental Disabilities Multicultural Committee, and within the state as a member of the Michigan Rehabilitation Association, and the Michigan Protection Advocacy Governing board. Internationally, Stoney has delivered trainings in several European countries and was selected in 1996 as a delegate to the Paralympic Congress in Atlanta to help create a World of People With Disabilities Best Practices agreement.
In September of 1996, Stoney filled the position of Psychiatric/Brain Injury Specialist and Diversity Liaison at the RCPD. As part of her job, she lectures to countless classes, presents to numerous faculty/student groups and attends various workshops as well as bringing important diversity issues to the attention of the staff at the RCPD. Perhaps her most critical work, however, is the encouragement, counsel and support she offers individual students with psychiatric, brain injury and other invisible disabilities. The measure of her success in such endeavors can be seen in the high praise many of her students have for her. According to the nomination packet compiled by Valerie Nilson, one of her students has written, "(Stoney) has taught me to live with my disability and not in it…I can honestly say that I would not have stayed a student if not for Stoney Polman."
In spite of this long list of accomplishments and concerns, it is not only the causes she supports or the time she gives that makes Stoney both a worthy recipient of the Individual Award for Excellence in Sustained Effort toward Diversity and an extraordinary person in her own right. Rather, it is the kind of person she is. As Deborah Galvan, Assistant Director of the Office of Supportive Services, (OSS) wrote in her letter of endorsement, "This commitment has very little to do with her (job) and everything to do with her (life)."