Undergraduate student Farhana Aktar (below left) has won the School of Social Work's Elizabeth N. Brehler Scholarship with an essay about overcoming the prejudice she has experienced both outside and inside her own culture, and how this has empowered her to help others as a social worker. M.S.W. advisor Tamarie Willis (below right), who served as Aktar's mentor for the manuscript contest, said Aktar "represents the future of the profession. She is a young woman who had to overcome the racial, gender, and religious biases of society, all while fighting against the cultural norms within her own household that wanted to put limits on her education and her value as a woman," Willis observed. "Her story is one of endurance, tenacity and willpower." Read more.

Suzanne Brown, Carolyn Joy Dayton and Tam Perry have been promoted to associate professor and Tamarie Willis has been promoted to academic advisor III. Congratulations!

M.S.W. advisor Sarah Doyle (below) collaborated with fellow Wayne colleagues to complete a campuswide, multistakeholder study lead by Wayne State medical student Margarita Abella under the mentorship of Dr. Beena Sood, professor with the Wayne State School of Medicine's Department of Pediatrics to assess the availability of lactation rooms, knowledge of men and women about breastfeeding in the workplace, and breastfeeding support to female employees at Wayne. In response to the study, initiatives were created to support nursing mothers at Wayne State, including the dedication and designation of lactation rooms across campus. The School of Social Work has created a designated lactation space on the first floor in room #169. Faculty, staff or students who wish to use the lactation space should contact the School of Social Work front desk at 313-577-4409.  In recognition of its evidence-based breastfeeding support for students, faculty and staff Wayne State will receive a Michigan Breastfeeding-Friendly Gold Workplace Award, presented by The Michigan Breastfeeding Network on Tuesday, Sept. 18, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the McGregor Memorial Conference Center Room B/C. Wayne State students, faculty and staff along with community families, breastfeeding supporters and the media are encouraged to join for pictures and celebration. Light refreshments will also be served. Read more here.