Each year since 2001, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences has recognized an outstanding staff member at the Mary Roper Award ceremony. The award is named for Mary Roper, a long-time Mason employee who was renowned for her professionalism and dedication to the university. Through her 17 years of work for the biology department, the Office of the Provost, and the dean’s office of the College of Arts and Sciences, followed by 13 years as the administrative assistant to the university’s chief of staff, Roper set high standards for service to her colleagues and to Mason’s students.
Roper, now retired, traditionally attends the ceremony for the award named in her honor. She continued this tradition on Wednesday, December 8, 2021, when the college recognized the 2020 and 2021 Mary Roper awardees. In a virtual celebration, Dean Ann Ardis saluted 2020 awardee Brittany Sanders, graduate programs coordinator in the Department of Communication, and 2021 awardee Katharine Rupp, office manager in the Center for Social Science Research (CSSR) and Institute for Immigration Research (IIR).
The Zoom meeting was filled with representatives of CSSR, IIR, the Department of Communication, and the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, as Ardis shared the recommendation letters sent on behalf of each of the awardees.
About Sanders, Ardis related that, “From her first day, Brittany has impressed everyone in the department with her critical thinking, her efficiency, and her dedication to our graduate students.” Other nomination letters noted that, “She has an encyclopedic knowledge to find elegant solutions to their often thorny administrative problems,” and, “Our graduate students adore her and rely on her advice, kindness and support.” “Last year Brittany worked side-by-side with the department chair to plan our biannual DC Health Communication Conference. Not only did she devote her considerable organizational and problem-solving skills to run the logistics of the conference, but she made sure that graduate students were included in the conference with meaningful roles as respondents, panel chairs, and moderators, thus ensuring that the conference contributed to their professional development.”
Katharine Rupp’s colleagues were similarly appreciative of her contributions to the CSSR and IIR programs. “Katharine is the heart of the CSSR and IIR,” one nomination said. “She has been critical to the success of both research centers and lends advice and support to others across the college.” “She coached us all through Webex, Teams, and Zoom,” said another nomination. “She helped to maintain contact and connection between faculty, staff and students and then also provided leadership as we moved back to campus in a safe fashion.” “Part of her daily routine is to ask faculty, staff and students, ‘What can I do for you?’ In doing so, Katharine is not only supporting all of us, but setting a tone, where we care for each other and wish to support our joint success.”
Both Sanders and Rupp graciously thanked their colleagues and shared their appreciation for having received the awards. “To be recognized in the same vein as Mary Roper and all the past winners of this award means so much to me…I’m humbled to be recognized in the same company,” said Sanders.
“I want to say ‘Ditto’ to everything Brittany said!” Rupp agreed at the opening of her remarks. “It was wonderful, and humbling, and shocking, and overwhelming, and I’m so grateful.”
The awardees described similar experiences in learning that they had received the award, which reflect the particularities of the COVID-era: they each logged into fictitious “meetings” that were actually award announcements. “When I went on to hop on what I thought was a small budget meeting … and saw so many faces, I went to leave the meeting, thinking I’d clicked the wrong link,” said Sanders.
“One of the bright moments of this job is the opportunity to recognize people who provide outstanding support, and today has afforded that opportunity twice over,” concluded Dean Ardis, as she invited those in attendance to an in-person reception in Horizon Hall.
December 11, 2022