News & Media

Expanding Understanding

Five Ohio Wesleyan Students Earn Spring 2023 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Grants

DELAWARE, Ohio – Five Ohio Wesleyan University students have earned OWU Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Grants this spring to support projects that include researching women’s health and food issues in Southern Africa, restoring and celebrating a Native American-inspired mural on campus, and exploring at a national conference how to create a more just U.S. economy.

The newest recipients of the competitive, university-funded DEI Grants and their projects are as follows:

• Nuri Craig, a sophomore from Mount Vernon, Ohio. Craig is using his grant to support travel to Southern Africa to observe differences in how food is produced, marketed, and advertised in Lesotho, and how the methods could be applied in the United States. Craig is a Nutrition major and a Black World Studies minor.
• Faith Deschamps, a junior from East Orange, New Jersey. Deschamps is using her grant to support travel to South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini to study Black women’s health activism in Southern Africa. She is a Black World Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies double major and a Religion and Sociology-Anthropology double minor.
• Meredith Frymyer, a senior from Ostrander, Ohio. Frymyer is using her grant to support restoring and recognizing the Fragua Memorial on campus. The outdoor site features a mural created in 2014 by Jemez Pueblo artist Jaque Fragua in collaboration with the Student Led Arts Movement (SLAM) and campus community. The mural is located on the amphitheater west of Hamilton-Williams Campus Center. Once the restoration is complete, Frymyer will bring powwow dancer Larry Yazzie to OWU to help celebrate the site. Frymyer, who expects to graduate in December, is a Social Justice and Pre-Law double major and a History minor.
• Marquel Henry, a junior from Dayton, Ohio, and Dillon Shelton, a junior from Solon, Ohio. They used their DEI Grant to attend the Just Economy Conference 2023, held March 29-30 in Washington, D.C. Sponsored by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), the conference seeks to bring together “community, business, foundation, policy, and government leaders who want a nation that not only promises but delivers opportunities for all Americans to build wealth and live well. Topics covered range from fair housing and lending to workforce and community development. While at the conference, Henry and Shelton met with Gregory Dyson, OWU Class of 1980, chief operating officer of the NCRC. Henry is a Black World Studies and Business (Management Concentration) double major, and Shelton is a Health and Human Kinetics major.

Ohio Wesleyan’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Grant program is overseen by the university’s Council on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. It was launched in 2021 and includes both student and faculty-staff funding categories. The program is part of the university’s larger Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Action Plan, which seeks to make the campus an actively antiracist space.

Learn more about Ohio Wesleyan’s DEI Grant program at owu.edu/DEIGrants.

---

Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private university offers more than 70 undergraduate majors and competes in 24 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Through its signature experience, the OWU Connection, Ohio Wesleyan teaches students to understand issues from multiple academic perspectives, volunteer in service to others, build a diverse and global perspective, and translate classroom knowledge into real-world experience through internships, research, and other hands-on learning. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives” and included on the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review “Best Colleges” lists. Connect with OWU expert interview sources at owu.edu/experts or learn more at owu.edu.