Nominations are being sought for '99 Perkins Prize

Nominations for the 1999 James A. Perkins Prize for Interracial Understanding and Harmony are now being accepted at the Dean of Students Office.

Trustee Thomas W. Jones '69 endowed the annual award, beginning in 1995, to recognize the Cornell professor, student, administrator or program making the most significant contribution to furthering the ideal of university community, while respecting the values of racial diversity.

This $5,000 prize is awarded -- with the understanding that the money will be used to further projects which promote interracial understanding and harmony at Cornell -- at a special ceremony each spring. Other individuals devoted to advancing university community through interracial understanding and harmony will also be honored.

The award was named in honor of the late James A. Perkins, president of Cornell from 1963 to 1969. Announcing the award in 1995, Jones said: "President Perkins made the historic decision to increase very significantly the enrollment of African American and other minority students at Cornell. He did so in the conviction that Cornell could serve the nation by nurturing the under-utilized reservoir of human talent among minorities, and in the faith that the great American universities should and could lead the way in helping America to surmount the racial agony which was playing out in the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s. He made a courageous and wise decision and deserves recognition for it."

Faculty, staff or students are eligible to apply for the award, and members of the Cornell community are invited to nominate applicants as well as encourage potential applicants to apply directly. Nominations and application forms are available at the Office of the Dean of Students, 401 Willard Straight Hall, 255-6839 or 255-1115; web site: http://www.dos.cornell.edu/dos/dos/perkinsprize.html.

The deadline to submit applications is March 3, 1999.