Daily News

Third Annual Celebration to Honor African-American Female Faculty Slated for Sept. 26

LONGMEADOW — The African American Female Professors Award Assoc. (AAFPAA) will host its third annual awards ceremony on Thursday, Sept. 26 at 5:30 p.m. at Bay Path University, 588 Longmeadow St., Longmeadow. The association will salute three professors, as well as present an Alumnae Award and Legacy Award.

The keynote speaker is Yves Salomon-Fernandez, president of Greenfield Community College and a staunch advocate for reinventing higher education in the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. She has been recognized as a thought leader, writing and speaking on issues related to rural innovation, workforce development, and women’s leadership. With her passion for access and equity, she was named one of the “Top 25 Women in Higher Education” by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education in March 2018.

Tickets are $20 per person, with half the proceeds going toward the AAFPAA Scholarship Fund.

“As an African-American woman, a graduate from the School of Professional and Continuing Studies at Springfield College (master’s program), I have been inspired to pay tribute to African-American female faculty who teach at the college/university level,” said Traci Gaynor, AAFPAA chairperson. “I wanted to give special recognition to those African-American female professors who are barrier breakers, and are willing to be fully present in university settings which are in varying states of diversity and inclusion.”