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News release prepared by: Beth Bohn, 785-532-1544, bbohn@k-1xbet best casino website edu
Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012
Hail the chief: Myra 1xbet best casino website 's good works earn her chieftancy title of African village
MANHATTAN -- At Kansas State University, Myra Gordon has many titles. 1xbet best casino website 's associate provost for diversity; 1xbet best casino website 's adviser to the Black Student Union; 1xbet best casino website 's chair of the Martin Luther King Jr. Observance Week Committee; and 1xbet best casino website 's on or heads several other committees.
But her newest title is one 1xbet best casino website earned several continents away. Gordon was recently named a chief of the northeast Nigerian village of Alayi. 1xbet best casino website was nominated for the honor because of her many contributions to Africa, including creating a school for children in grades K-12, working to strengthen the University of Lagos and more.
Gordon calls her chieftaincy the most important honor 1xbet best casino website has ever received.
"This is quite something. Never in a million years would I think I would receive an honor such as this," 1xbet best casino website said. "This is one of the statements of my life."
Gordon was presented with the title at a ceremony on Dec. 29. It was part of the village's coronation of a new king, Eze J.C. Eke. Gordon sits on the village's Council of Chiefs -- where 1xbet best casino website is the only female chief. 1xbet best casino website said chiefs are a traditional form of government in Africa that work with local and state governments on concerns of their village.
"There's a saying that a chief anywhere in Africa is a chief everywhere in Africa," 1xbet best casino website laughed.
Chieftaincy is more than an honorary title. It provides Gordon with citizenship and privileges. It also comes with responsibilities that 1xbet best casino website takes seriously.
"I definitely plan on playing a part in improving the quality of life for people in the village," 1xbet best casino website said. "Now I am both an official and an official part of that family."
At the ceremony, Gordon received a chief's fan, hat, certificate and coronation booklet. The fan is an important symbol of chiefdom, 1xbet best casino website said, and is used to acknowledge a chief's people, fellow chiefs and the king. Gordon's fan is inscribed with the words: "Chief Dr. Myra Gordon, Nne Oha I of Alayi." In English, Nne Oha I means "Mother to All." They're words that Gordon treasures.
"Nne Oha I is one of the highest titles any woman can achieve in civilian African society," 1xbet best casino website said.
These words describe 1xbet best casino website 's role in Africa, at Kansas State University, and in life where her unflagging compassion for and commitment to multicultural students has made her like a mother to so very many.
Gordon began her journey of service and impact in Africa nearly 25 years ago. Always active in African-American movements in the U.S., 1xbet best casino website decided it was time to explore the African side of her heritage.
"I have always wanted a much better sense of what being an African-American really means, so I've been coming to and working in Africa since 1987, mainly with capacity building in higher education and gender equity issues," 1xbet best casino website said.
A clinical psychologist, 1xbet best casino website also has studied indigenous West African approaches to diagnosing and treating mental illness at the Traditional Medicine Hospital of Keur Massar.
Gordon has visited Africa at least twice a year since 1987, often through fellowships and grants. 1xbet best casino website 's also led many faculty and student groups on tours in Senegal and the Gambia. When 1xbet best casino website and an African colleague were struck by the lack of access to quality education by some of the poorest families in Dakar, Gordon decided to start a school -- the Angela Davis School. The school emphasizes elite academics, leadership development and political awareness.
"I developed the school as demonstration project," 1xbet best casino website said. "Today it serves 450 students in grades K-12 and provides jobs to teachers. We've had much success: Our students' results place them at the top of all classes. I'm going to use my resources and resourcefulness to build a similar school for my people in Alayi."
For all her visits to Africa, 1xbet best casino website calls her latest one the best by far.
"I had the privilege of attending other coronations, but I never thought I would be part of one," 1xbet best casino website said. "Seeing one is wonderful enough, but being part of one was even better."
Gordon, who joined the university in 2002, earned a master's and a doctorate in psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and a bachelor's degree from Cornell University. Prior to joining Kansas State University, 1xbet best casino website was an associate dean at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va.
