Custodian Mollie Lane: Recipient of Social Justice Employee Prize

Mollie Lane, custodian in Physical Plant – Facilities, is the recipient of the 2010 Morgenstern-Clarren Social Justice Employee Prize. She received a $1,500 award.  The award was announced April 1 by awards coordinator Marina Melendez, dean for the Class of 2010.

Eligible employees included custodians, dining staff, grounds crew, and building maintenance staff.

Barbara Schukoske, administrative assistant in Graduate Student Services, nominated Lane for the award. She cited Lane for going beyond her usual duties to ensure that students and staff alike have a clean, safe environment in which to work.

“Ms. Lane’s work in keeping the Science Library clean in the past has been exemplar.  Her attention to the cleanliness of the space and her pleasant personality and willingness to do what is asked far exceeds what is expected of her.  Ms. Lane’s efforts assure students the conduciveness to study in a clean and healthy environment.  The student’s comfort is her number one priority.  Being a mother herself, Ms. Lane knows the importance of a clean, comfortable and safe place to study,” Schukoske wrote in her nomination letter.

The award was created in 2009 in memory of Peter Morgenstern-Clarren ‘03 who pursued social justice while a student at Wesleyan. Morgenstern-Clarren’s activism included securing benefits for Wesleyan custodial staff, participating in the United Student and Labor Action Committee, and contributing his leadership to the campus chapter of Amnesty International. Peter’s parents, Dr. Hadley Morgenstern-Clarren and the honorable Pat Morgenstern-Clarren of Shaker Heights, Ohio, are sponsoring this award that honors their son’s activism for the public good.

Nominations for the award required an essay from a faculty, staff or student that explains how the selected employee is one who has contributed to student success and life at Wesleyan.