symposium and gandhi award.

The Gandhi Award was established by the UNO School of Social Work in 1996. It is given to honor individuals and organizations that exemplify Mahatma Gandhi’s principles of nonviolence, selfless service and social action—which are consistent with social work values.

Since 1999, the Gandhi Award has been presented annually during the UNO School of Social Work Symposium, coordinated by the School of Social Work's Advisory Committee. The day-long Symposium and Gandhi Award Luncheon are opportunities for social work and other human service professionals to learn and celebrate in our collective commitment to social justice.

For more information, please contact Ashlie Hurt at 402-554-3057 or by email at ahurt@mail.unomaha.edu.

Guidelines for Nominations for the Gandhi Award

Past Recipients of the Annual Gandhi Award

2008

The Eleventh Annual Gandhi Award was presented to Matt Talbot Kitchen and Outreach. Over the past twelve years, Matt Talbot Kitchen and Outreach have evolved from serving meals to an organization that addresses the many barriers encountered by people in poverty. Matt Talbot Kitchen and Outreach is Lincoln’s largest provider of free nutritious meals and outreach services to the working poor and homeless. They have developed services that assist the homeless and near homeless in accessing housing, healthcare, treatment, education, and emergency needs. Matt Talbot Kitchen and Outreach has also become a significant advocate for the poor. The mission of the organization is to serve the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of Lincoln’s working poor and homeless, through outreach, advocacy, education and the provision of food and shelter. The organization was named after Matt Talbot who, like Gandhi, took a vow of poverty and served his fellow laborers through sacrifice and a deep spiritual commitment which helped him to overcome his addictions. Gandhi’s picture was hung at the Kitchen and his famous quote; “Be the change you wish to see in the world” was inscribed above the service line. Matt Talbot Kitchen and Outreach strives to promote the Gandhian values of nonviolence, community, social justice, compassion, sacrifice, and unconditional love on a daily basis.

2007

The Tenth Annual Gandhi Award was presented to Carol Windrum. She made a personal commitment to start a peace and justice movement within her denomination 25 years ago. As an ordained Methodist minister, she persuaded the United Methodist Church to allow her to start a specialized ministry as the Peace with Justice Minister in the Nebraska Conference of the United Methodist Church. This was an unfunded (no salary) position in the early years. Eventually the conference decided to commit financial resources to this unique ministry. Carol continues to take this ministry to both rural and urban areas to teach and emphasize the systemic situations that reinforce poverty and how the church can work toward social change in non-violent ways. She continues her life work toward social justice within the United Methodist Conference and speaks throughout the country on this issue. Carol is also one of the founders of Nebraskans for Peace and received their Peacemaker of the Year Award in 2005. Carol and her husband live a lifestyle that reflects the values they place on simplicity and economic justice by residing in a low income, mostly African American neighborhood for the past 20 years. They are actively involved in their neighborhood and Carol is very active in the Weed and Seed Neighborhood Project. Carol stands against racism, violence, and economic exploitation with a calm but determined dignity. She embraces non-violence, celebration of diversity, and economic justice is every aspect of her life, from where she lives to what she consumes. “Justice means reformation.”

2006

The Ninth Annual Gandhi Award was presented to Frances Mendenhall. She is a champion for the disenfranchised, for human rights, for democracy, for peace, and for the environment. For a time she published the paper WHAMO which then became the Nebraska Observer. This paper was a monthly critique of the Omaha World-Herald. Mendenhall ran for the Nebraska Legislature in 1988 on the platform of social justice issues, including health care and education. She ran for the OPPD board in 2002 on the issue of wind energy. As a dentist, Mendenhall is one of the few to work with Medicaid by providing services for children in foster care, children from low SES backgrounds, and Sudanese refuges. An active leader and board member of Nebraskans for Peace, Mendenhall actively works for peace and social equality. Mendenhall’s life is not focused on materialistic items or status, she practices what she preaches. Mendenhall’s life, like that of Gandhi, presents to us both a model and a challenge.

2005

In April of 2005, the School of Social Work broke with “tradition” and honored two recipients for the Gandhi Award—Mary Ann Beckman and John Krejci.

Mary Ann Beckman has been an advocate for more than 30 years. Mary Ann began her calling in 1968 as a nurse for Catholic Charities. Since then, she has served as a family counselor, an adoption counselor and most recently as the Senior Director of Community Services for Catholic Charities. In 1991 she and her husband were honored with the Dorothy Day Peacemaker Award in recognition of their ceaseless work for justice and peace and in 1994 she was honored for her community service efforts at the Ike Friedman Award and Merit. Her mission to meet others “where they are,” to empower, and to advocate make her exemplary.

John Krejci is the former Director and Professor Emeritus of Social Work at Nebraska Wesleyan University. Prior to retirement, John was active in a number of movements to promote justice and peace. He continues that mission today. Currently he works with the NASW-NE Chapter Advocacy Committee; lobbies for social work issues at the Unicameral; serves as the Liaison between NASW-NE and Nebraskans for Peace; and he is an active board member of Nebraskans for Peace, Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty, and Prison Reform. John actively works on numerous social justice issues including those pertaining to civil rights, the United Nations, the anti-war movement, Native Americans, and holding the hierarchy of the Catholic Church accountable for “walking and talking” their Founder’s message of justice and love. John’s ceaseless and tireless efforts are a tribute to Gandhi’s message of justice, peace and change through non-violence.

2004

Robert O. Epp received the seventh annual Gandhi Award in March of 2004. A retired dairy farmer and gentle Mennonite man, Epp has exemplified the spirit of nonviolence and selfless service to others in all aspects of his life. His activism began in 1945 during the effort to rebuild postwar Europe. Over the next five decades, Epp carried the “weapon” of nonviolence into war-torn sites in Central and South America, advocating for peace and justice. An active leader and member of Nebraskans for Peace, Epp has also worked within Nebraska as an advocate for Native Americans. Epp’s life, like that of Gandhi, presents to us both a model and a challenge. When an ordinary man – a farmer from the Midwest – realizes that he must place himself alongside gun-wielding soldiers in order to fight for peace, we must not only consider “What would Gandhi do?” but also ask ourselves “What should we do?”

2003

Dr. Linda Burkle of the Omaha Salvation Army received the sixth annual Gandhi Award in March of 2003. Dr. Burkle has extensive experience in the non-profit and governmental human service sectors. For over fourteen years, she has provided administrative leadership for the Salvation Army, overseeing the Social Service Programs of the Lied Renaissance Center in Omaha, and those of twenty-eight sites in Nebraska, South Dakota and Western Iowa. Both personally and professionally, Dr. Burkle has advocated for non-violent humanitarian change, championing human rights on local, regional, national and international levels. She has managed and volunteered—above and beyond the call of professional duty—in outreach humanitarian programs in Nigeria, South Africa, Albania, India, and New York City’s Ground Zero.

2002

The Lincoln Public Schools’ Social Work Department was the recipient of the fifth annual Gandhi Award in March of 2002. The dedicated MSWs within LPS have served over 30,000 students and families in the city of Lincoln, Nebraska. Teaming with families, students, educators and community agencies, they have worked to prevent and intervene in problems and issues that affect students’ potential for educational and social success. The work of this model department has advanced community awareness of social issues that impact upon students, families and the community, and set a standard to be recognized and modeled by other school districts.

2001

The fourth annual Gandhi Award was received in March of 2001 by Dr. Robert K. Hitchcock, professor of anthropology at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. In over twenty five years as a cultural anthropologist and developmental consultant on rural economics, land use planning, social impact analysis, and natural resource management, Dr. Hitchcock has demonstrated a dedicated promotion of human rights of indigenous peoples worldwide—including women, small-scale farmers and herders, and refugees. He has also worked on a series of projects with rural and urban populations in Nebraska.

2000

The third annual Gandhi Award was given for Social Justice and Social Action to Jo Peterson in March 2000. Jo Peterson is the Youth Services Coordinator for Region 6 Mental Health in Omaha. She spent her lifetime using nonviolent means to promote social justice and social action. As a student at Benson High School in the 1960s, she protested the segregated cafeteria by eating in the “black” cafeteria. From 1996 to 1999, she served as the coordinator for Nebraskans for Peace. Jo has been instrumental in coordinating nonviolent demonstrations against the death penalty, nuclear weapon use and has promoted other issues of peace and justice.

1999

The second annual Gandhi Award was given for Social Justice and Social Action and was presented to Omaha Together One Community (OTOC) in March 1999. OTOC was recognized for their social justice-related activities and their grassroots efforts to give the poor and minority groups a voice in the public policy making arena.

1996

The first Gandhi Award was given for Courage and Social Action in December 1996. It was presented to Sabrina Prince, who was a graduate student in social work at that time. Ms. Prince was recognized for her courage in pursuing her sexual harassment case, as well as her commitment to social action that paved a better life for others.