EDWARDSVILLE - Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Dominic Dorsey, director of Disability Support Services, is being honored by The Empower Indy Inc. in conjunction with the Powerhouse Church of Indianapolis Inc., as one of its Champions of Community Engagement at the 2nd Annual EmPOWERment Black Tie Gala on Friday, May 18 at The Sheraton Hotel in Indianapolis.
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The organization annually honors those who have committed their life’s mission to justice and the empowerment of the community. In its award letter, Dorsey was commended for an “unfailing fight and commitment to social equality. Because of your inspiring vision to empower the marginalized through your life, especially as it pertains to the LGBT community and gender equality, it is our great pleasure to honor you for your amazing work.”
“I am extremely humbled to be this year’s recipient of the Champions of Community Engagement Award,” Dorsey said. “Everything I do from the perspective of an activist and community organizer is to improve this world that my children will one day inherit.
“Alice Walker once said, ‘Activism is the rent I pay for living on this planet.’ There’s not a single day that goes by where rent is not due. I believe in liberation and that none of us are free until all of us are free, so I fight for my family, and I fight for the day when fighting against oppression will no longer be necessary.”
Dorsey arrived at SIUE in January 2018 after serving as associate director of Adaptive Educational Services at Indiana University Purdue University in Indianapolis (IUPUI) since 2014. In that same year, he founded a local grassroots organization by the name of DONT SLEEP (Deconstructing Oppression Now Through Solidarity Liberation Equity Empowerment and Perseverance). The organization spearheads many efforts to address systemic oppression through an intersectional lens by way of aid for those experiencing homelessness, black economic empowerment, solidarity actions with DACA recipients, and community forums on issues such as LGBTQIA equity, immigration, police accountability and youth engagement. In the process, DONT SLEEP and Dorsey as its president have emerged as an unapologetic voice for justice in Indianapolis.
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville provides students with a high quality, affordable education that prepares them for successful careers and lives of purpose to shape a changing world. Built on the foundation of a broad-based liberal education, and enhanced by hands-on research and real-world experiences, the academic preparation SIUE students receive equips them to thrive in the global marketplace and make our communities better places to live. Situated on 2,660 acres of beautiful woodland atop the bluffs overlooking the natural beauty of the Mississippi River’s rich bottomland and only a short drive from downtown St. Louis, the SIUE campus is home to a diverse student body of nearly 14,000.
