Friday, May 04, 2018

Centro Hispano executive director Edel Segovia ’12 Ed.D. is the recipient of this year’s Kathleen Berkeley Inconvenient Woman Award for her commitment to issues of social justice.

“Edel consistently ensures that our Hispanic students are fully aware of all the opportunities available to reach their full potential,” said Kent Guion, the university’s chief diversity officer and head of UNCW Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion. “Her efforts to reach pre-college students, families and community partners is the true embodiment of advocacy in action.”

The Inconvenient Woman Award recognizes a UNCW faculty or staff member for activism on the behalf of others. Segovia was presented the award during the Purple and Lavender Reception on May 3.

“Working in the area of diversity, I often have to be the voice of the silenced or least heard, while also being a part of the populations I am representing,” said Segovia, who joined UNCW in 2009. “My personal background as a triple minority – Hispanic, immigrant and female – forces me to actively seek opportunities to contribute and to interact, as opposed to taking a passive role or waiting for opportunities to land at my desk.”

Segovia’s philosophy is rooted in her experience as an immigrant to the U.S. from Peru, and in her family’s value in education, she said.

“As an immigrant and child refugee, the sense of urgency to succeed and excel in spite of significant challenges, and to ‘give back’ to this country that gave my family an opportunity to live safely, has never dwindled,” said Segovia. “This has resulted in always thinking ahead, working at full-steam, keeping in mind not only what comes next but also what could have been done better, and even more importantly, whom I am preparing as the next leader.”

The Kathleen Berkeley Inconvenient Woman Award is given annually by the Women’s Studies and Resource Center in honor of Berkeley’s work as a courageous advocate for marginalized members of the UNCW community. Berkeley retired from UNCW after serving 34 years as a history professor and associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Previous recipients are Berkeley (2015); Michelle Scatton-Tessier, associate dean, College of Arts and Sciences and associate professor of French (2016); and Candace Thompson, associate professor in the Department of Instructional Technology, Foundations and Secondary Education (2017).

-- Venita Jenkins

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Centro Hispano executive director Edel Segovia