Kyle Ciani and Pamela Hoff have been named joint recipients of the 2016 David A. Strand Diversity Achievement Award at the Founders Day Convocation.
The award recognizes current faculty or staff members who are instrumental in extraordinary curricular or program activities that assist Illinois State University in responding to its commitment to diversity.
Kyle Ciani and Illinois State University President Emeritus David Strand
Professor of History Kyle Ciani joined Illinois State University in the fall of 2001, working in the Department of History and in the Women’s and Gender Studies Program. She teaches core history programs, which weave together the narratives from Native, Black, Asian, and Latina women’s histories.
Ciani is also involved with students outside of the classroom. Through her work in the Women’s and Gender Studies Program, she provides leadership and mentoring for F.L.A.M.E. (Feminist Led Activist Movement to Empower) and SPAN ISU (Student’s Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence ISU). She is active in the annual Take Back the Night program and Clothesline Project. Outside of campus, she volunteers with such organizations as the Neville House Domestic Violence Shelter, the YWCA Stepping Stones sexual assault survivor’s program, and the Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence.
Pamela Hoff and Illinois State University President Emeritus David Strand
Associate Professor of Educational Administration and Foundations Pamela Hoff came to Illinois State University in the fall of 2009. Along with a courseload that includes teaching social foundations and multicultural perspectives to pre-service teachers, she inspires leaders across the University. A scholar-activist, Hoff’s research interests include transformative education, critical race theory and pedagogy, African American education, and comparative education. She was awarded a Fulbright-Hays in 2011.
An active member of the campus Minority Women in the Workforce Teaching & Learning Community (MAW), Hoff has also had significant influence on various registered student organizations on campus, including My Sister’s Keeper, Black Graduate Student Association, Graduate Student Association, Black Student Union, NAACP, and Bowman Fellows. Hoff helped create the Umoja: Celebration of Black Graduates ceremony, a program that recognizes the journey black students have made to reach the goal of graduation.
President Emeritus David Strand, who has served the University as an administrator, faculty member, and mentor at Illinois State University since 1978, established the Strand Diversity Achievement Award.
