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| Ensuring Excellence Phase II |
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Catherine Meeks Legacy Celebration
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Community Celebration will honor the legacy of Wesleyan Professor Dr. Catherine Meeks, Distinguished Community Servant
Professor of Socio-Cultural Studies Dr. Catherine Meeks will retire from Wesleyan College this May, but plans to continue serving the community through leadership at the nationally recognized Aunt Maggie’s Kitchen Table community outreach program. A community celebration event honoring Dr. Meeks is planned for May 25, 2008 in Wesleyan’s Porter Auditorium. The event is co-sponsored by Wesleyan College and the Macon Chapter of L.I.N.K.S.
The Catherine Meeks Legacy Celebration will include tributes to the life and work of the distinguished community servant through song, dance, prayer, reflection, pictures, and financial sponsorships. The celebration event is free and open to the public. All sponsorship proceeds will benefit the Aunt Maggie’s Kitchen Table community outreach program and will support Dr. Meeks’ efforts to continue the work she started with the award-winning program.
In addition to her role as professor, Dr. Meeks has served as the Executive Director of the Lane Center for Community Engagement and Service at Wesleyan College. Officially dedicated in 2006, the Lane Center for Community Engagement and Service invigorates the Wesleyan campus with meaningful service-learning initiatives. Students gain insight about community needs and develop leadership skills through projects like Aunt Maggie’s Kitchen Table, The William and Ellen Craft Saturday School, Wesleyan Volunteers for Literacy, Habitat for Humanity, WOW Days for Macon, and numerous conferences about women’s health and wellness.
Meeks also serves as the Executive Director of Aunt Maggie's Kitchen Table, a community resource center located in Macon's Anthony Homes, a public housing development. In 1996, Meeks was instrumental in founding the program. Under her leadership, the resource center has grown to become a community outreach program serving hundreds of men, women, and children. Aunt Maggie's provides support and assistance to families in the area, offering help with basic needs such as food and clothing, educational support, advice and guidance. Some of the center's programs include the Saturday School enrichment and tutoring program, a community garden, a library, parenting support and community meals through the Healthy Living nutrition program.
Meeks has encouraged hundreds of Wesleyan faculty, staff and students to work with the programs at Aunt Maggie's. In 2000, the program earned the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Award for Campus-Community Collaboration. Since then, recognition from the national award has increased opportunities for grants and donations necessary to fund the project locally. In addition to her recognition with the Aunt Maggie's project, Dr. Meeks is well respected for her active leadership with the Juvenile Court Advisory Council, the Tubman African American Museum Board, Focal Pointe Women Community Advisory Board, National Association of Human Rights Workers, and the National Association of Women Deans and Counselors.
Throughout the last 30 years of her teaching life, Meeks has encouraged young people and older adults to follow a path that leads to self-awareness and enlightenment. She teaches courses, presents workshops, and organizes larger initiatives that focus on prejudice, self-esteem, and various spiritual paths. She earned a B.A. in Speech Education from Pepperdine College, an M.S.W. in Jung, Afro-centrism and Oncology from Atlanta University, and a Ph.D. in Jungian Psychology, African American and African Women's Literature from Emory University. She has been honored with several national awards including the NAACP Outstanding Community Service Award and the National Association of Social and Behavioral Scientists' W.E.B. Dubois Award for Outstanding Service to the African American Community.
Dr. Meeks continues to earn recognition for her work in the Middle Georgia community. She has been the recipient of 13WMAZ’s "Straight From the Heart" Award, Leadership Macon’s Robert F. Hatcher Distinguished Alumnus Award, and a Lifetime Service Award from the City of Macon Mayor's Office in recognition for her work with women. In 2006, the Georgia Sociologist Association named Catherine Meeks the Georgia Sociologist of the Year.
Meeks has published several books. In the fall of 2005, she unveiled her newly published work Standing on Their Shoulders, the culmination of nine years of work, which documents the biographies of 101 outstanding African American women from the local community. The book sends a powerful message about recognizing our individual successes as achievements built upon a foundation of work solidified by the generations that precede us. The work helps us recognize the heroic qualities of women in our daily lives. All proceeds of the book benefit the Tubman African American Museum. |
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