Dr. Christa Platt has been named the recipient of the 2023 David A. Strand Diversity Achievement Award.
Established by Illinois State President Emeritus David Strand in 1994, the award recognizes a current Illinois State University faculty or staff member who is instrumental in extraordinary curricular or program activities that assist the University in responding to its commitment to diversity.
Platt serves as the director of the Multicultural Center, a student center for antiracism, identity, and belonging. She spearheaded the planning of the center, transforming the original blueprint into an innovative, student oasis.
Spending much of her career working with underrepresented students, Platt’s work has been recognized with the University Assessment Initiative Award, which she used to understand the factors that influence success for first-year underrepresented students. She has been honored with the Diversifying Faculty in Illinois Fellowship from the Illinois Board of Higher Education, and the Diversifying the Spectrum of Opportunities in STEM Award from the Illinois Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Program Symposium. She received Illinois State’s Commitment to Diversity Award, University Impact Award, Barbara Sizemore Research Award, and Donald McHenry Fellowship.
Platt serves on the President’s Council for Diversity and Inclusion. In 2020, she chaired the “Addressing Antiblackness in the Academy” Culturally Responsive Campus Community Conference, with more than 700 campus-wide, community, and alumni participants. Platt has also been named a McLean County YWCA Woman of Distinction.
