Vanderbilt’s Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center has announced the recipients of two annual awards.
Cara Tuttle Bell was named the 2015 recipient of the Mary Jane Werthan Award, which is presented to a member of the Vanderbilt community who has contributed to the advancement of women at Vanderbilt on a systemic level. The award is named in honor of Mary Jane Werthan, the first woman member of the Vanderbilt Board of Trust.
As director of the Project Safe Center for sexual misconduct prevention and response at Vanderbilt, Tuttle Bell guides the campus in reducing power-based personal violence and providing victim assistance. She has created and implemented important programs and policies, including Green Dot bystander intervention training and effective consent programming.
Tuttle Bell oversees Title IX, Clery Act and sexual misconduct policy trainings and actively supports students and women’s organizations in the broader community. She helped shape the Sexual Misconduct Policy at Vanderbilt to be victim-centered and trauma-informed and has tirelessly promoted community discussion of sexual violence.
Vanessa Beasley was named the 2015 recipient of the Mentoring Award, which is presented by the Women’s Center to a member of the Vanderbilt community who has helped to support women on campus through professional and intellectual development.
Beasley was nominated by undergraduates, graduate students and faculty members who stated, “Whether she is running the pre-tenure faculty mentoring program, leading a faculty retreat, reviewing a colleague’s latest research, helping a graduate student negotiate her first contract or working with an undergraduate student to find her potential, Vanessa Beasley summons growth from individuals and institutions with grace.”
Beasley is associate professor of communication studies in the College of Arts and Science, where she also directs the program in American Studies. She teaches courses in mass media and politics, the history of political rhetoric in the United States, and rhetoric in civic life. In addition, Beasley will assume the role of dean of The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons effective July 1.
Contact: Emily Hickey, (615) 322-1333
emily.c.hickey@vanderbilt.edu