Lipscomb award honors alum, remembers professor
By Carolyn Thompson
Diversity Institute Fellow
03.27.06
More than 2,000 people sprang to their feet in applause in Allen Arena Monday in a different kind of March Madness.
The crowd wasn't assembled to cheer for the school's basketball team but to honor two outstanding Lipscomb University educators.
Nancy Moon Gonzalez, class of 2001, received the first Mary Morris Award of Exemplary Service to Society. Gonzalez and Morris were praised during the ceremony for their extensive service and volunteer work. Morris died last year of colon cancer.
After graduation, Gonzalez moved to Central America as a volunteer, teaching elementary school during the day and adult Bible classes in the evening. She later established two daycare centers in Guatemala and Honduras.
"Her love for God and his children helped her believe that the way to improve the lives of his children was through education," said Lipscomb Provost Craig Bledsoe.
The award was named after Morris, an education professor known for her social service work in Nashville and abroad before her death at the age of 36.
Morris established The Center for Character Development on campus, and Character Counts! Nashville, a character-building program for people of various ethnicities and abilities.
The awards ceremony also recognized 600 students who volunteered for various projects around the country during the spring break vacation.
Paul Thuom, 24, a sophomore from Sudan, volunteered on the Caribbean island of St. Maarten during his break.
"We cleaned and did yard work, some painting, taught vacation Bible school, and helped those who were handicapped," Thuom said.
During the ceremony, the audience viewed a musical video, produced by Morris, about Gonzalez's work in Honduras. The 10-minute production left many viewers teary-eyed.
After the presenters described the monumental tasks she has undertaken, the diminutive Gonzalez spoke only of Morris: "Mary lived what she taught. She was my teacher, my mentor, my friend. I hope to have the passion that she had."
Gonzalez attended the ceremony with her husband of two months, Manuel, a minister she met at Baxter Institute. The newlyweds are headed to Guatemala to "work side-by-side daily and to be an encouragement to each other. It's a blessing," she said.