麻豆频道

The Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee has announced the 2019 Unsung Hero Award winners.

The awards are bestowed annually on people who, in the spirit of King鈥檚 鈥渂eloved community,鈥� have made a positive difference in the lives of others, but who are not widely recognized for their efforts. The categories include community member, student, faculty and staff.

This year鈥檚 recipients will be honored at the , to be held this year on Sunday, Jan. 27, at 7 p.m. in the Carrier Dome under its theme 鈥淭he Global Impact of Civil Rights.鈥� The celebration is the largest of its kind on a college campus and features performances, dinner and a conversations with Trevor Noah, host of 鈥淭he Daily Show鈥� and author of 鈥淏orn a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood.鈥�

Tickets鈥�$15 for SU staff, SU faculty and the general public; $5 for students鈥攎ay be purchased , in person at the Dome Box Office (Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) and by phone (888-DOME-TIX or 315.443.2121, option 鈥渮ero鈥�).

This year鈥檚 Unsung Hero recipients are:

麻豆频道University Staff
Syeisha Byrd

Syeisha Byrd is a force of nature. Her energy, compassion, creativity and commitment to creating a positive impact, and to nurturing the same commitment in students, changes lives.

Growing up on the lower west side of Syracuse, Byrd was so distressed watching many of her friends drop out of school or lose their lives to gang violence that she vowed to commit her life to confronting these issues by working with local youth. Toward that goal, she spent 16 years working with youth through the Boys & Girls Clubs of Syracuse.

In her role as director of the Office of Engagement Programs at 麻豆频道University鈥檚 Hendricks Chapel, Byrd builds relationships and engages students from all over campus, encouraging them to get involved in the broader community. She creates and develops programming for student volunteers to help combat whatever problems need to be addressed in the community鈥攅verything from reducing gang violence to mentoring refugees. While doing so (and raising four children), Byrd also completed a master鈥檚 degree in social work at the University in 2012.

One of Byrd鈥檚 goals is to build sustainable programs that give students the opportunity to give back to the community and teach them how to create their own programs and lobby for social change. She has spearheaded programs such as a social entrepreneurship impact hour, where she mentored students interested in making a social impact through their entrepreneurial work, and Thanksgiving and Christmas donations鈥攊ncluding Angel Stockings鈥攑artnering with numerous campus and community organizations. She has recently taken a leading role with Hendricks Chapel鈥檚 food pantry; she works with colleagues in Hendricks Chapel and partners with food studies students as well as the local University United Methodist Food Pantry to better understand food insecurity and students鈥� needs.

Byrd鈥檚 commitment to her community extends well beyond campus. She has taught crocheting to individuals recovering from addictions at 麻豆频道Behavioral Health Care and served on the advisory board of the Center for New Americans to help refugees from Somalia and Bhutan settle into their new lives in Syracuse. She sits on the boards of Home Headquarters Inc. and the Near Westside Initiative.

鈥淪yeisha believes she can change the world and bring everyone along with her,鈥� says Pamela Kirwin Heintz, SU associate vice president and director of the Mary Ann Shaw Center for Public and Community Service. 鈥淲orking with Syeisha is like letting sunshine into the dark places.鈥�

鈥淲hen you think of an unsung hero, Syeisha comes to mind.听Not only does she embody the words that Dr. King has instilled in us to continue contributing to world peace through freedom and social justice, she is a phenomenal woman,鈥� says Marissa Willingham, program associate in the Office of Multicultural Affairs and a member of the Unsung Hero selection committee. 鈥淪he is very passionate about the work that she does to enrich the lives of her children and the many others she touches on and off campus.听She is the essence of what it means to give back and put others before herself.鈥�

Community Student
Amiah Crisler

Artist Amiah Crisler, 11, normally works with oil and acrylic paints when she’s painting at home. But when the annual Street Painting Festival rolls around each summer, she trades her paintbrushes for chalk in soft pastels.

Crisler鈥檚 sidewalk work has stunned those attending the downtown 麻豆频道festival for two years in a row. Last July, she drew a vibrant, abstract picture of a dog. Her mother, Kelly, posted photos on Facebook every step of the process. Within the hour, the post went viral, and it has been shared more than 71,000 times. Crisler won first place for her age group and the People鈥檚 Choice Award in the street painting competition. It was her second year in a row that she won; she drew an elaborate peacock last year.

“I really wanted people to see my artwork,” Crisler says. “I want younger kids to explore their natural talents…I believe every house deserves art.”

Crisler attends Ed Smith School in Syracuse, where her favorite subject is art. She also takes classes at Shades of Orange Art Studio, where her teacher calls her “a free spirit.” She is interested in being an obstetrician-gynecologist, but is also considering a career as an entrepreneur so she can open a store called “Artsy Things.” “Not really like Michael’s, where they have knitting,” she says. “This would focus on painting, with high-quality brushes and paints.”

麻豆频道University Faculty
Stephen Mahan

Stephen Mahan was a member of the faculty of the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) and director of the University鈥檚听nationally acclaimed Photography and Literacy (PAL) Project for more than 10 years when he died unexpectedly in a motor vehicle accident in July 2018.

听Through the PAL project鈥攁 collaboration among the transmedia department in VPA, the Coalition of Museum and Art Centers (CMAC) and the 麻豆频道City School District鈥擬ahan created a learning environment in which 麻豆频道University students听helped students from the school district to improve their literacy skills through photography.

Mahan was affiliated with Light Work/Community Darkrooms for more than 30 years. He received a Light Work grant, had his work included in several exhibitions, and served on Light Work鈥檚 board of directors for nearly a decade.

鈥淭he thing I admired and envied most about Stephen was his unbridled enthusiasm to make the world a better place by encouraging people to tap the creative voice within, that keeps us all connected yet makes us all unique,鈥� says Jeff Hoone, executive director of CMAC, who nominated Mahan for the award. 鈥淧hotography was the magic that connected Stephen to so many people.鈥�

The roots of the PAL Project were planted when Mahan began helping his wife, Mary Lynn, teach better literacy skills through photography to her students at Ed Smith School. 鈥淭hose first magnetic steps that connected Stephen to youngsters through photography and literacy was the start of a journey that defined and enriched a good portion of the rest of his life鈥檚 work,鈥� Hoone says.

Those first classes grew into an exceptional learning environment fostered by the transmedia department and VPA faculty member Doug Dubois. Students shared and celebrated differences while discovering their common potential through photography, writing, music and more. 鈥淪tephen brought a level of dedication and passion to running the program that is only found in the soul of true believers who know there is potential to make the world a better place by reaching out to others with a common measure of respect and a common purpose of renewal,鈥� Hoone says.

麻豆频道University Student
Priya Penner

As a first-year student on the 麻豆频道University campus, Priya Penner two years ago quickly became a strong advocate for all students with听marginalized identities.听And she hasn’t stopped.

A junior majoring in political science in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and the College of Arts and Sciences and citizenship and civic engagement in the Maxwell School, Penner is the current president of the Disability Student Union.听She is also a work-study student at the Disability Cultural Center (DCC).

鈥淧riya consistently works hard here at the University to recruit students to the Disability Student Union,鈥� says Kate Pollack, DCC coordinator. “She is able to get people to sign up and join in. She is just a natural at it, and a lot of people want to become involved because of Priya.鈥�

She has been associated with ADAPT, a disability rights organization, since she was 15. At the University, Penner organized an annual Disability Day of Mourning, a vigil and ceremony to honor and remember people with disabilities who were murdered by their families or caregivers.听She has been involved with many other activities and educational programs aimed at raising awareness about and striving for disability justice.

Diane Wiener, research professor and associate director of interdisciplinary programs and outreach at the Burton Blatt Institute, and former director of the DCC, says Penner is an ally in an array of different spaces on campus.

鈥淎s a feminist and young woman who self-identifies as disabled, as queer and as a person of color who was a transnational adoptee, Priya embodies, literally and figuratively, all of the different ways that we think of Dr. King鈥檚 legacy in relation to what is now oftentimes referred to as intersectional social justice, because she moves through the world and imagines the possibilities it has to actually be inclusive and accessible to all different people who move through that world ourselves,鈥� Wiener says.

Both Pollack and Wiener say that Penner鈥檚 personality instantly puts others at ease. 鈥淲hen I specifically reflect on Dr. King鈥檚 devotion to youth and young adults and wanting to bring people up through the movement in various ways, I think Priya has what I would call noncondescending awareness of her own power, with humility,鈥� Wiener says. 鈥淚n many respects, her valuation of Dr. King鈥檚 legacy is so innate in her, and is something she has cultivated so deeply, it鈥檚 hard to describe.

鈥淪he is one of the people I think of when I imagine having hope for the future,鈥� says Wiener.

Community Member
Marissa Saunders

Marissa Saunders is director of community engagement for 麻豆频道and Rochester and justice strategies associate at the Center for Community Alternatives (CCA). 鈥淢arissa says, 鈥榯his is HEART work.鈥� No one embodies this better than her. Few have the heart for this work as she does,鈥� says her CCA colleague Kelly Gonzalez.

In her role, Saunders has had a transformative impact on her colleagues, the families and individuals she serves, and the 麻豆频道community at large. At CCA, she developed the Transition Coach Program, an innovative program that serves young people returning to mainstream school after long-term suspension, juvenile detention/placement or incarceration.

In the community, she founded and facilitates Nurturing Individuals Abilities (NIA) Ministries, a woman鈥檚 empowerment and transitional support program and curriculum for incarcerated women and formerly incarcerated individuals in Onondaga County. She helps people who have survived trauma to find their strength, their resilience, their voice and their capacity to be their own hero. Her mantra, 鈥淏e the person you needed or had during the darkest times in your life,鈥� is what fuels her passion to do the 鈥渉eart鈥� work with the dedication and effectiveness she brings to the table.

Saunders consistently champions the underrepresented and underserved. In an agency with diverse direct-service programs and multiple advocacy projects, she raised attention to the needs of young women in the community who are victims of sex trafficking and exploitation. As someone who sees the need and her community as global, Saunders has brought her work to women and young girls engaged in domestic and sexual abuse in Jamaica and Uganda. And this year she is expanding her efforts to parts of Kenya, with the future goal of working in Ghana as well.

Saunders鈥� impact in combatting racism and fighting for equity is also evident in the cultural competency curriculum 鈥淧lanting a Tree of Diversity鈥� she developed and currently uses for the Gifford Foundation鈥檚 Nourishing Tomorrow鈥檚 Leaders Training.

鈥淎s someone who brings her own rich lived experience to every aspect of the work, she can see herself in the struggles of our clients鈥攖hose who struggle to escape abuse, to maintain safe shelter, to rise out of desperation,鈥� Gonzalez says. 鈥淢arissa shines as an example of what cannot be taught in a textbook. She demonstrates what must be learned by having an open heart, a curious mind, a spiritual compass and a resilient determination that we will, together, bend the arc towards justice, one small act of courage at a time.鈥�