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The Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center has named five individuals from the Vanderbilt community as recipients of its annual awards for 2025.

The Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center Leadership Award honors an undergraduate or graduate student who demonstrates leadership in activities that contribute to the achievements, interests, and goals of women or that promote gender equity. This year, two students were recognized with this award.

The first Leadership Award recipient is Ochuwa Garuba, a junior with majors in Public Policy Studies and Law, History, and Society and a minor in Data Science. One of her recommenders notes that Garuba is “a natural leader, and someone that others trust and respect.” In addition to being a member of the Dialogue Vanderbilt student board, Garuba has been involved with the student organization Women in Government, through which she has mentored first-year public policy students for the last two years. Her passion for civic engagement through voting led to her work with Vandy Votes. As president of Vandy Votes, Garuba proposed an event for National Voter Registration Day that would consolidate separate events into one event with larger impact. With other students, Garuba worked to launch Ballotpalooza, a festival on Alumni Law that engaged over 20 student groups from campus and the Nashville community. One of Garuba’s recommenders stated that she is “the student with perhaps the single highest potential to have an impactful career in public service that I have taught during my ten years at Vanderbilt.” According to this recommender, Garuba cares about policy and politics “in a deeply personal and ethical way.”

The second Leadership Award recipient is Benmun Damul, a second-year student in the Master of Public Health Program’s Global Health track. A native of Nigeria, Damul noticed how much women suffer because their mental health is neglected. To help increase women’s representation in mental health fields, Damul established a scholarship fund which supports young women pursuing degrees in psychology. Damul has led research initiatives, developed advocacy strategies, and provided direct support to women in need. Her nominator explains that Damul “sees the cracks in the systems meant to serve women, especially when it comes to mental health, and instead of just pointing them out, she builds something better.” A recommender states that Damul “leads with grace, ethics, and boldness in her pursuit to improving the mental health and well-being of globally underrepresented communities.” Damul has co-written GirlPower: I Am Made for More, a guide for girls aged 10 to 19, and she is currently writing a book highlighting iconic African women whose contributions have been overlooked.

The Mentoring Award honors a member of the Vanderbilt University community who fosters the professional and intellectual development of Vanderbilt women. This year, three people were recognized.

The first recipient of the Mentoring Award is Ken Lau, Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology and Surgery. Professor Lau’s nominator explains that he has “placed his mentoring duties as his top priority throughout his career.” In his mentoring, Professor Lau “prioritizes work–life balance and is concerned with the well-being of his lab members. He models this balance by maintaining regular work hours and taking time off for personal commitments.” In addition, he “understands that his trainees and staff have different sources of motivation, and that mentoring cannot be treated as one-size-fits-all but should be tailored to the individual.” The comment of another recommender echoes this last point: “As a neurodivergent woman in the field, I had learned, if not consciously, to make myself smaller and not rock the boat. What I learned in the Lau lab, however, is that in order to conduct the highest quality research, scientists must hold ideas, not hierarchies, paramount. Everyone who walks through the lab doors is deserving of having their voice heard.” When she had failed at something, this recommender remembers Professor Lau saying, “you can do this”: “Those few words were able to help lift the weight of inadequacy off my shoulders and let me continue on my path as a graduate student.”

Srishti Nayak, Research Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology and the Music Cognition Lab, is the second recipient of the Mentoring Award. Dr. Nayak’s nominators note that she has mentored twenty junior lab members in the last five years. A recommender praises her “ability to take students with little to no prior exposure to our interdisciplinary research field and support their growth up to a point where they feel comfortable presenting their own novel contributions in scientific forums and academic publications.” The individualized attention Dr. Nayak offers her mentees is admirable, says another recommender, who also notes that Dr. Nayak’s “non-judgmental, and open nature allows her to empower junior researchers as well as staff, like myself, to take risks and to consider ourselves worthy of achievement.” Another recommender values Dr. Nayak’s advice about professional development and leadership, stating that she “has helped me navigate many difficult situations with care and always gives honest and compelling advice. She is always willing to help me figure out the best solution, even in situations she has no stake in.”

The third recipient of the Mentoring Award is Lori Troxel, Professor of the Practice of Civil and Environmental Engineering. One of her recommenders explains that the enrollment in Vanderbilt’s undergraduate civil engineering program is 61% female, which is “more than double the national norm for participation by women” at this level. This recommender suggests that Dr. Troxel is “the central reason” for Vanderbilt women’s strong engagement in this male-dominated field. Other recommenders agree with this assessment, noting Dr. Troxel’s role as adviser to the student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE). One recommender explains that, as part of ASCE, Dr. Troxel urged her to “get involved in planning the student conference for hundreds of students. This experience gave me organizational skills and connections that I maintain to this day.” Another recommender explains: “I feel a strong sense of belonging in engineering, which I attribute to the inclusive environment Dr. Troxel helped create. Her mentorship helped me see that engineering isn’t just about technical expertise—it’s about caring for the world around us and working collaboratively to make a positive impact.”

The Mary Jane Werthan Award is presented annually to an individual who has contributed significantly to the advancement of women at Vanderbilt University. The award honors three qualities characteristic of its first recipient, for whom the award named: vision, persistence, and extraordinary skill in interpersonal and institutional relations.

This year’s recipient of the Mary Jane Werthan Award is Midori Lockett, Chief Community Impact Officer on the Community Impact team within the Division of Government and Community Relations. Her nominator writes that, in her work overseeing the university’s Community Impact Fund, Lockett has “connected women leading nonprofit organizations with resources across the institution, with a particular focus on engaging overlooked and underestimated women of color in the nonprofit sector.” One of her recommenders explains that, in her work with this fund, Lockett has “created a more democratic and transparent infrastructure for grant-making, ensuring that the voices of underserved communities are heard and that critical resources are allocated to facilitate educational attainment, promote healthier lives, and amplify creative expression.” Another recommender notes Lockett’s efforts to create change in organizational structures: she has “removed herself from beloved working groups, boards, and committees so that she may advocate for a younger colleague's opportunity to serve in those capacities.” Her nominator praises not just the work that Lockett has done, but the way she has done it: “In all spaces and all relationships, conversations, and committees, on campus and off, Midori is her authentic and wise self, quick to laugh, follow her curiosity, embrace a challenge, and invite others in for the learning and growth.”

We send our congratulations to our graduating seniors—thank you for your hard work for the Women’s Center and for the campus community during your time at Vanderbilt! We’ve asked our seniors to tell us about a favorite memory from their time working at the Women’s Center. Thank you for sharing these memories. We wish you all the best!

Raychael Gross

My favorite thing about the Women's Center has to be the welcoming atmosphere. My favorite thing about interning with the Women's Center is networking opportunities that I have been given.

Alisa Hill

My favorite part about being a Women’s Center intern has included watching the Women’s Center evolve from a staff and faculty working space to a cozy place that more students are making use of throughout the day.

Antavia Holder

My favorite thing about the Women’s Center is the welcoming the environment!

Devin Laye

My favorite thing about the Women's Center is the wonderful, empathetic, supportive people! As said by Michelle Obama, "There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish."

Marlyssa Lee

The Women’s Center has provided me with a space and people that are like-minded but also come from different backgrounds to discuss issues that surround women. Being around powerful and amazing women who are rooting for me in my corner has been the best part about being an intern! I truly love being an intern!