Diversity Award for Excellence winner C. T. Salazar (right) and Delta State University President Dr. Daniel J. Ennis. CLEVELAND, Miss. — C. T. Salazar, University Archivist and assistant professor at Delta State University was recently recognized by the Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) with the Diversity Award for Excellence. The awards program, which began in 1992, recognizes educators from across the state’s public university system for contributions to the positive advancement of diversity on campuses and in the community.
Nominees from each of the state’s eight public universities and the University of Mississippi Medical Center are recognized with the award, and one nominee is selected by the Diversity Committee of the Board as the Diversity Educator of the Year. The 2024 Diversity Educator of the Year Award was presented to Dr. Caroline E. Compretta, assistant vice chancellor for research and associate professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
Salazar said, “[Receiving the award] was really neat and affirming of the work I value. It means something for me to be a lifelong Mississippian educating Mississippians. The best future for Mississippi—and the future I wholeheartedly believe in–is one where all students are empowered in their own education. And this means we all have to work toward creating learning environments where everyone can succeed.”
Salazar came to Delta State as the Reference & Instructional Services Librarian in 2020 and became the University Archivist in January 2024. The Charles W. Capps, Jr. Archives and Museum Building facility serves Delta State and the region as a depository for historical, political, social, and geographical documents and artifacts of importance to the Delta area and the State of Mississippi. For more information about the archives, visit their website at https://www.deltastate.edu/about-dsu/campus-map/charles-w-capps-jr-archives-and-museum/.
