Sister Christine De Vinne, OSU, president of Ursuline College in Pepper Pike, received the 2020 Charles W.L. Foreman Award from the Council of Independent Colleges. The award, the highest honor given by the organization’s state councils, was presented during a virtual ceremony on April 27.
It is awarded annually to a college president or corporate trustee who has demonstrated an outstanding record of service, leadership and commitment that distinguishes the recipient from his or her peers in support of the CIC state councils’ mission to promote higher education.
Sister De Vinne was nominated for the honor by Bill Spiker, president of The Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges in recognition of her leadership, service and participation on numerous committees, panel discussions, conferences and seminars at the state and national levels.
“Sister Christine is a founding committee member of our Women’s Scholarship Initiative which raises money in support of non-traditional-age female students who are returning to college in pursuit of their bachelor’s degree,” Spiker wrote. Launched in 2015, the initiative has raised nearly $380,000 to fund 114 scholarships awarded to 88 students enrolled at 24 of OFIC's 33 member campuses.
“Above it all, Sister Christine has a giving spirit and very welcoming, engaging attitude and approach to her support of independent higher education across the country, of The Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges on the state level in her home state of Ohio, and mostly with her impactful, insightful and devoted leadership of her alma mater, Ursuline College. She is most deserving of this honor and it is a privilege to nominate her for the 2020 Charles W. L. Foreman Award,” Spiker wrote.
He originally nominated Sister De Vinne to receive the award in spring 2020. However, the award ceremony was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. It was rescheduled as a virtual event that took place on April 27 this year.
The award is named in honor of Foreman, who served as president of the UPS Foundation and board chair of the Foundation for Independent High Education, which merged with CIC in 2010.
Ursuline College, an accredited liberal arts college rooted in the Catholic traditions of intellectual inquiry and social justice, was founded in 1871.
The OFIC was founded in 1950 to conduct annual solicitations of companies and foundations to benefit private colleges in Ohio.
The CIC is an association of more than 760 nonprofit independent colleges and universities, state-based councils of independent colleges and other higher-education affiliates. The organization works to support college and university leadership, advance institutional excellence and enhance public understanding of independent higher education’s contributions to society.