Earl Merritt, director of the Office of Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity in the College of the Liberal Arts, received the Humanitarian Award at the 49th annual MLK Memorial Banquet.
Colleagues, students, family and friends gathered inside the senior graphic design studio to celebrate the life of Ryan Russell, a graphic design professor who died on Oct. 23.
The course, which has caused controversy in parts of the U.S., will replace a semester-long African American studies class that has been offered at State High for more than a decade.