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Alums earn King award

Posted 6:15 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014

Miller and Coleman photos.
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Miller and Coleman photos. Read more →

Two UW-L alumni have received the 2014 Martin Luther King Leadership Award from the Jubilee Center of the Greater La Crosse area. They are veteran educator Bill Coleman, ’75, and La Crosse City Council member Dempsey Miller III, ’07.

[caption id="attachment_4325" align="alignleft" width="288"]Bill Coleman photo. Bill Coleman, '75[/caption] Two UW-L alumni have received the 2014 Martin Luther King Leadership Award from the Jubilee Center of the Greater La Crosse area. They are veteran educator Bill Coleman, ’75, and La Crosse City Council member Dempsey Miller III, ’07. Coleman helped found the UW-L Minority Studies Institute. He helped create programming initiatives and consulted on academic issues in planning and designing the Minority Studies Resource Center in the mid-’70s. Coleman was an art teacher at Logan and Lincoln middle schools. He created a structure for middle school children called Students of Color. As the sole African American teacher for nearly two decades, he accepted the responsibility of being an adviser and mentor to many students of color. He received UW-L’s Parker Multicultural Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1997. [caption id="attachment_4327" align="alignright" width="288"]Photo of Dempsey. Dempsey Miller III, '07[/caption] Dempsey has spent the last decade building upon and expanding the legacy established by Coleman. He works in the La Crosse School District as a liaison for African American families, and was honored as the 2007 Tribune Person of the Year for his work with local students. Dempsey helped establish new programs such as the African American Heritage Month Celebration of student efforts, a mentoring program, a culturally responsive classroom practices training, and Boyz II Gentleman. He was elected to the La Crosse City Council in 2013. Coleman and Dempsey were honored during a Martin Luther King Jr. at Viterbo University.

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