Layla El-Chami: Multicultural leadership awardee

Tuesday, May 1st, 2007

Layla El-Chami, a senior family life and community services and a College of Human Ecology Honors Program student, will be presented a Multicultural Senior Leadership Award this week.

Layla is one of four recipients of the campus-wide honor, presented through the alumni association’s multicultural program on Wednesday, May 2, in the Alumni Center.

Layla’s secondary major is American ethnic studies. She is the multicultural assistant at Ford Hall and works as a peer instructor for Enhanced University Experience. Active in the Hispanic American Leadership Organization and Multicultural Ambassadors, she plans to pursue a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy at Friends University, Wichita, this fall.

Her honors project was called “Kin Raising Kids.” It grew from a workshop she developed during her summer internship at the K-State Research and Extension office in Sedgwick County. The workshop was an educational community gathering for kinship caregivers such as grandparents raising their grandchildren.

“The summer internship provided a professional development and the chance to view the world through a child’s eyes,” Layla said. She is from Wichita.

“The project is just one example of Layla’s outstanding skills, creativity, motivation to work in a helping profession, and her contribution to a much-needed area of service,” said Briana Goff who coordinates the college’s honors program and nominated the student for the leadership award.

“She has the maturity, drive, academic skills, sensitivity, and overall personal attributes that make a significant impact on the university and in Kansas,” Goff continued.

Congratulations, Layla.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 1st, 2007 and is filed under Dean's Blog.