The seventh annual Women of Distinction Award ceremony at Ithaca College was held March 21 in Klingenstein Lounge. The award, which is part of the Women Leaders Series organized by the Office of Student Engagement, is handed out to members of the IC community each year in recognition of the contributions of four women leaders on campus. The 2025 winners are Sumru Atuk, assistant professor in the Department of Politics; Crissi Dalfonzo, director of the Center for LGBT Education, Outreach, & Services; Diane Gayeski, professor of Strategic Communication and; Melinda Quigg, head coach of the IC women’s soccer team.
Sophomore Josie Thomson, student leadership consultant and member of the Women Leaders Series planning team, chose the theme and helped plan the ceremony. She said this was her first year leading the Women of Distinction Awards.
“We started back in February where we accepted nominations opened to the campus,” Thomson said. “We got the most nominations we’ve ever received. Then myself and two other members of my planning committee sat down and we read through all of the nominations and ended up selecting our four women of distinction.”
On the day of the ceremony, the walls of the lounge were decorated with superhero-themed details, including a photo wall with the silhouette of a city being saved by superheroines. The theme for this year’s Women of Distinction Award ceremony was “Step Into Your Power.” Songs like Beyonce’s “Run the World (Girls)” and Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!” played over the speakers.
President La Jerne Cornish gave the opening remarks, speaking to how women mentored and guided her throughout her career.
“When another woman sees you, gives you a tap on the shoulder, gives you a suggestion about what you could be, that might be all you need to take it to the next step,” Cornish said. “So it is incumbent upon us, as women leaders, to recognize talent in others, to give them a tap on the shoulder, and encourage them, to inspire them to be all they can be.”
Four students from the Office of Student Engagement were then called up one by one to speak on the qualities and actions that earned each woman the prize. Atuk and Gayeski’s roles as educators, Dalfonzo’s work at the LGBT Center and the Gender Affirming Closet and Quigg’s leadership on and off the field were all highlighted. Each speech highlighted the recipients as great mentors and role models.
Seniors Jasmine Williams and Olivia Valdez, first-year student Tamia Silvera and Thomson each spoke about how the women have mentored them, as well as the women’s commitment to their careers, their students and the Ithaca community.
“I think that taking the time to recognize, acknowledge and celebrate leadership, community engagement and the love of connecting with other people is so important, especially in trying times like these,” Williams said. “I think that saying, ‘We are proud of you,’ is something that we don’t do enough, and that’s what this event is. It’s just looking at these women and saying ‘We see you and the work that you do is so extremely important and we love you for it.’”
In the speeches of each recipient, they had been asked to grant words of advice. Atuk listed four personal mantras she wished to share with everyone else, the fourth being a quote from Emma Goldman, a writer and leader in the early 20th-century women’s movement: “I don’t want to be part of your revolution if I can’t dance.”
“We’re tested with very depressing reality, and sometimes it’s hard to be happy, but I think if we suppress our laughter, if we dim our colors and if we give up on dancing, it means we lose,” Atuk said. “So, I think it doesn’t matter how sad and depressed we feel sometimes, we should not forget to reclaim our right to be happy and bubbly.”
Gayeski advised that the best way to understand one’s self was to be a mentor. Dalfonzo urged the crowd to, “Be Gay, Do Crime,” which she explained as acting based on one’s moral code, rather than just following the law.
“Especially with the state of the country right now, with laws and borders being changed to reflect not necessarily what is just and true, but what a small section of the government believes, it’s more important than ever for us to do the right thing,” Dalfonzo said. “Whether you are staying here at IC for a few more years or you’re on the precipice of graduating and going out into the wide world, my advice remains the same: center your values.”
Quigg spoke to learning from failure and from those around you.
“Life is too short for mediocrity,” Quigg said. “What I would recommend is you choose growth, you choose resilience, most importantly choose joy.”
The political climate around the country was a large shadow over the event, especially given the specific fields each of the women work in. Each speech made mention of the urgency of maintaining joy in the face of growing fear.
“I think everybody recognizes that it’s a difficult time in the world and in the United States particularly,” Gayeski said. “It’s a time of uncertainty. But I think all of us who are a little bit older, as we look back … if there are any regrets, it’s that we didn’t take the opportunity to be joyful, to recognize and to be appreciative for what we do have.”
