Dr. Melinda Kovács and Our Revolution (Andrea Cole and Derek Evans) are the 2020 Kelsy Beshears Racial Justice Award winners.
The YWCA St. Joseph and NAACP of the St. Joseph branch give the awards annually.
Melinda is an associate professor in the Department of Social Sciences and Humanities. She joined the university in 2012 and has sponsored and co-sponsored multiple programs related to gender and racial equality. She also heads up a breakout group on overcoming racism in St. Joseph that developed S. U. P. P. E. R. (Saint Joseph United People Promoting the Equality of Races), which meets monthly to discuss racism locally, as well as supporting other efforts in the community of social justice and racial equality.
Our Revolution of St. Joseph is a non-partisan organization that was formed in August 2016 by founders Andrea Cole and Derek Evans. Derek is an academic advisor in the Student Success and Academic Advising Center. During the last four years, the group has provided a space in St. Joseph for organizing, advocacy and activist work on issues of racial, social, economic and environmental justice.