Dr. Tamara Bland Honored with 2024 Davlin Diversity Leadership Award

Dr. Tamara Bland, dean of the Borra College of Health Sciences, is this year’s recipient of the Sister Mary Clemente Davlin Diversity Leadership Award. 

Bland accepted the award during the 15th Annual Caritas Veritas Symposium on Sept. 17. She was recognized for her efforts to build equitable opportunities for students of color in the area of healthcare.

“To be acknowledged in a room full of trailblazers and changemakers is truly inspiring,” Bland told the packed Lund Auditorium.

“Accepting this Davlin Diversity Award, I do not stand here alone,” she added. “I did not reach this milestone without help; my ancestors stand with and behind me. Seeing the need to move forward, I have to always remember to look back. It serves as a reminder of those who laid stone on an unpaved road and sacrificed their lives for me to live in a better world, and it reminds me that I truly stand on the shoulders of giants.”

Presented by DU's Office for Justice, Equity and Inclusion, the Davlin Award recognizes a faculty or staff member whose teaching and service embodies building anti-racist and equitable practices, and who demonstrates a commitment to diversity and inclusion. It is named for Sr. Mary Clemente Davlin, OP who taught English from 1970 to 2005 and was known for her dedication to helping underrepresented students.

Bland has been a leader in working to grow diversity within healthcare to better meet the needs of patients in black and brown communities.

A letter supporting Bland’s nomination for the award noted the following:

“As a person and in her work, she embodies the spirit of Sr. Davlin and the mission here at Dominican University. Each piece of Tamara Bland equals a whole person that is working toward diversity, equity, and inclusion in nursing and healthcare.”

Bland was previously the recipient of the 2022 Nurse Influencer Award from the American Nurses Association of Illinois and her efforts to increase diversity among nursing students through focused recruitment efforts were noted in the Feb. 13, 2023 edition of Diverse Issues in Higher Education.