Coats, Moore-Henderson recognized by IHL for diversity efforts
Pictured at the recent IHL Diversity Awards ceremony are, from left, IHL Trustee Shane Hooper; MSU Vice President for Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine Gregory Bohach; Community Outreach Veterinarian Brittany S. Moore-Henderson; Professor of Educational Leadership Linda T. Coats; MSU President Mark E. Keenum; and College of Veterinary Medicine Dean Kent Hoblet.
Two Mississippi State University faculty members were honored recently during the Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning’s annual Diversity Awards ceremony.
Linda T. Coats, a professor of educational leadership in MSU’s College of Education, and Brittany S. Moore-Henderson, a community outreach veterinarian for MSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine, were among campus and community leaders recognized for their impact in advancing diversity and encouraging understanding and respect.
Coats joined the MSU faculty in 1996 and has a track record of innovative teaching and learning strategies; facilitating student access, retention and success; and encouraging student engagement. She is principal investigator for a National Science Foundation grant to develop a program to help underrepresented women navigate the tenure and promotion track at predominately white colleges and universities. Her multicultural educational framework has propelled her research on African-American students and teachers, and provided insights to improve classroom teaching to facilitate greater learning from African-American and other minority students.
MSU President Mark E. Keenum said Coats “works tirelessly to foster inclusive excellence” and has a “sincere desire to contribute to the national dialogue about ways to improve teaching and learning for each and every student.”
Moore-Henderson is a junior faculty member known for her strong desire to reach underserved and minority students with information that might lead them to pursue higher education. While working toward her veterinary degree, which she earned in 2016, she co-founded MSU’s chapter of “Veterinary Students as One in Culture and Ethnicity,” known as VOICE. She served as MSU chapter president and later as national president for the organization that works to increase awareness, respect and sensitivity to differences among all individuals and communities in the field of veterinary medicine. Moore-Henderson also works with the “Veterinary Education and Training through Community Outreach” program to expose underserved local students to the field, and she has worked with a summer enrichment program to provide a human-animal bond curriculum to low income children in Washington, D.C.
Vice President for Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine Gregory Bohach said Moore-Henderson received numerous awards and scholarships as a student and now as a faculty member “she continues to develop new innovative programs that will reach the underserved, minorities and others who need to be encouraged to continue their educational journey either at MSU-CVM or other outstanding institutions.”
For more on the IHL’s Diversity Awards, visit www.mississippi.edu/pr/newsstory.asp?ID=1370.
MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.
Allison Matthews | Public Affairs
