Joliet Junior College Wins Charles Kennedy Equity Award from ACCT

Joliet Junior College (JJC) is proud to be the national winner of the 2024 Charles Kennedy Equity Award from the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT).

The Charles Kennedy Equity Award “recognizes exemplary commitment by a governing board or governing board and president of an ACCT member two-year postsecondary institution board or state board for two-year postsecondary institutions to achieve equity in the college’s education programs and services and in the administration and delivery of those programs and services.”  

"It’s an honor to be nationally recognized as an industry leader in DEI,” said Dr. Escortina Ervin, JJC’s chief equity officer. “Receiving the 2024 Charles Kennedy Equity Award from the ACCT demonstrates that the work and commitment of JJC’s DEI department and the entire College are making an impact.”

JJC became eligible for the national honor after being named the 2024 Equity Award winner for the central region. The extensive ACCT award nomination process involved a letter of support from the board of trustees in addition to information from the last five years, detailing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in relation to underserved or underrepresented populations, workforce and leadership positions and community engagement.  

Highlights include:

• A five-year historical high in retention rate for Black/African American and Hispanic/Latinx students
• 90+ diverse clients served by the Entrepreneur and Business Center
• Increases in female employment applicants, minority applicants and minority hires
• The Center for Multicultural Access and Success’ Latinx Empowerment Conference and Black Teen Summit

“For years, JJC has emphasized the importance and value of DEI, from its inclusion in our strategic plan, the expansion of our DEI department to recently earning the status of a Hispanic-Serving Institution,” said Dr. Clyne Namuo, JJC president. “To be awarded for the efforts and progress the College has made in the past five years is an honor that will encourage us to keep striving to make JJC a welcoming place for all.”

The national award is named after former JJC trustee and political science professor Charles Kennedy, who founded the ACCT Minority Affairs Center (now known as the ACCT Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee).  

“JJC winning the Charles Kennedy Equity Award feels like a full-circle moment for the already storied-history of the nation’s first public community college,” Dr. Namuo said. “The award’s namesake is proof that diversity, equity and inclusion have always been important to the College. We’re proud to bring the award home and forever be connected to such vital work.”

The ACCT award comes just weeks after winning the 2024 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award and months after being officially designated an HSI. JJC’s other recent awards in DEI include being named a Most Promising Place to Work in Community Colleges by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) and Diverse: Issues in Higher Education in 2022 and 2023.