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Two from U of M Receive Harold Love Community Service Award

For release: May 14, 2008
For press information, contact Gabrielle Maxey

A professor and a student from the University of Memphis have been selected to receive the Harold Love Outstanding Community Service Award from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. David Acey, assistant professor of communication, and Andrew Trippel, a graduate student in the Division of City and Regional Planning, received the award April 24 in Nashville.

David Acey

The award recognizes outstanding community service performed by faculty, staff members, or students. Five students and five faculty/staff members are chosen; each receives a $1,000 award.

Acey has a long history in scholarship that addresses issues of social justice. He served as director of the University’s African and African-American Studies Program from 1979 to 1985. In 1986, he initiated the Africa in April Cultural Awareness Festival, which celebrates the history and culture of a different African nation each year. “The festival has been important in inspiring African-American students at all levels in the community and has helped build connections and partnerships between the University of Memphis and the African-American community,” said U of M President Shirley Raines.

In recognition of his leadership, Acey has received numerous awards, including the Authur S. Holman Lifetime Achievement Award from the Black Student Association and the Civil Rights Medallion from the National Association for Equal Opportunity for Higher Education.

Andrew Trippel

Trippel has provided leadership in building relationships with nine community organizations operating near the University that had no history of working together. The resulting collaboration produced a redesign of a neighborhood park, a gathering of the history of six neighborhoods, and completion of a six-neighborhood integrated plan. By involving fellow students in creating the collaborative and in developing the master plan, Trippel extended the educational experienced to others. “His engagement with the community resulted in practical ‘real world’ results for the neighborhood,” Raines said. “Each of these outcomes is exactly what we aim to achieve as an engaged University.”

Past recipients from the U of M include Dr. Jerrie Scott in 2004, Dr. Stanley Hyland and Reginald Milton in 2000, the Up ’til Dawn program in 1999, and Dana Wilkerson in 1998.

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