Salt Lake Community College’s prestigious Distinguished Alumni Award honors SLCC graduates and former students for professional excellence and exemplary service to their communities in their chosen professional or academic fields. It’s the highest award the college bestows upon alumni. Traditionally, one female alumna and one male alumnus are selected as honorees each year.
Dr. Tashelle Wright
Director, Heath Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, University of Utah School of Medicine
As a young CNA whose parents did not attend college, Tashelle Wright was told she shouldn’t aspire too high. She enrolled at Salt Lake Community College to become a nurse practitioner, all the while dreaming about conducting advanced research in health science, a dream she felt was beyond her reach as a first-generation student.
What she found at SLCC surpassed her expectations and helped her realize this dream. Encouragement from faculty members like Dr. Clifton Sanders and Marian Howe-Taylor changed the trajectory of her career, helping Tashelle gain the confidence to pursue research and engage with projects focused on justice, equity, diversity and inclusivity.
“Being part of the Black community is very important to me,” says Tashelle. “I saw the diversity at SLCC as an opportunity and wanted to make sure I was out doing things and reaching for more.”
With help from her mentors, Tashelle earned an associate’s degree in biology and then transferred to Westminster College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in public health as a McNair Scholar. She also holds a master’s degree and a PhD in public health from the University of California, Merced.
Today, Tashelle proudly serves as director of the Office of Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Utah School of Medicine. She says her mentors at SLCC inspire her to continually find ways to “pay it forward,” such as teaching Black history to kindergarteners and educating the public about health equity.
Although it’s been years since she has attended SLCC, Tashelle still looks for ways to stay involved. She recently volunteered to review posters for STEM students during SLCC’s first annual Undergraduate Projects & Research Conference. “If I can find ways to give back or be present on an SLCC campus, I’m all for it.”
Derek Dyer
Executive Director, Utah Arts Alliance
There are two phrases that describe Derek Dyer – give back and never give up. Throughout his life, he has come to know the power of perseverance, especially as a young SLCC student working to create the Utah Arts Alliance. As he did so, Derek faced opposition from some of Utah’s most influential policymakers. But his desire to give back to the community through the arts was stronger than the warnings from naysayers. Almost two decades later, the Utah Arts Alliance brings art and culture to more than 250,000 people through its seven venues located in Salt Lake City.
At the heart of Derek’s community engagement is the will to create the kind of world that he wants to live in. He believes that what people most want out of life is to be happy and that when you “dig down” into what brings people joy, it’s having big goals and contributing to society in a positive way.
Derek credits SLCC with playing a key role in helping get the Utah Arts Alliance off the ground. When starting his business, he had to be his own accountant, HR person and the graphic designer. SLCC offered him some much-needed flexibility, allowing him to work while earning his degree and take extra classes outside his major.
His advice to students is to go after your dreams. When he first enrolled at SLCC, he took paralegal classes simply because he thought becoming an attorney would give him enough money to pursue his real passion once he retired. He soon discovered that the college offered a new degree called multimedia design. “I looked at the curriculum and decided that’s exactly what I wanted to do because there would be an opportunity to make a living. I decided to go full blast into the arts and all these years later, I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
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