Each year, the University of Minnesota Morris, in partnership with the Seed Coalition, an organization supporting community engagement on college campuses in Minnesota and Iowa, provides community engagement awards to three individuals who exemplify community-university partnerships.
Below are the award winners for the 2025-26 academic year.
Student Community Engagement Award: Arthur Morris
Arthur Morris has been a Food Systems student leader for three years, in addition to other roles. A peer wrote of Arthur, "I have seen how committed he is to the community and the work he has done. I have worked with him in the community garden, on the community kitchen survey, at the food shelf, and on many other amazing projects. He is always the person I know to go to when I need help, and he is always willing to help." Faculty added, "Arthur was always on-time, on-point, dedicated to the sensitive nature of the work, and is someone we would hire in a second, were we in a position to do so. It did not seem to matter how much work there was, or how complex or new it was, Arthur approached everything with the same calm, competent attitude." In addition to his work as a Food Systems leader, Arthur also served at Gender Justice, creating a series of trainings about trans identities for rural communities.
Faculty/Staff Community Engagement Award: Miriam Gieske
Professor Miriam Gieske is a community-engaged learning practitioner, integrating community-engaged learning into three courses. She serves as the advisor to the Stevens County Community Garden, providing both hands-on teaching and support to the Food Systems student leaders who coordinate the garden. Her community-engaged research agenda has been practical and impactful. One partner writes, "Miriam has collaborated in research on soil at the WCROC which has led to results that are helpful for local farmers. Her most recent project on mulch types (paper and plastic) for bell pepper production and how the soil was influenced has led to future questions that can be answered through grant-funded research between UMN Morris and the WCROC."
Community Partner Community Engagement Award: Lisa Denzer
As director of Raising Up Stevens County Kinship (RUSC Kinship), Lisa Denzer inspires Morris community members, including UMN Morris faculty, staff, and students, to mentor youth. She coordinates a lunch buddies program with local schools, pairs mentors and mentees for long-term relationships, and coordinates reading programs. Her nominators wrote, "She is completely organized, friendly, inclusive, and innovative. Bringing our local youth together with community members that they can look to and build relationships with is something that benefits all." In addition, Lisa wrote a grant to support the Stevens County Community Garden, which now has a park area and a state of the art shed with a family corner, thanks to her initiative.
Community engagement winners were honored at an April 9 Seed Coalition awards ceremony. The Seed Coalition serves colleges in Minnesota and Iowa that are committed to community engagement.
The Morris community will celebrate community-university partnerships, award winners, and seniors on April 20. The event will also encompass a celebration of the attainment of the Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement, a national honor for colleges and universities.