Laxmi Bissoondial ’02, director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, was honored recently with the Katharine F. Erskine Award, presented annually by the YWCA of Central Massachusetts.
The prestigious award recognizes women who have demonstrated leadership and reached exemplary levels of achievement in their professions and communities. Award recipients are chosen for their commitment to the YWCA’s mission to eliminate racism, empower women, and promote peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.
In her role at OMA, Bissoondial oversees the university’s A.I.D program (Alternatives for Individual Development), Upward Bound program, (the university’s pipeline high school program) and retention efforts for all first-generation students. Beyond access and retention efforts for underrepresented students, she has led and continues to provide cutting-edge student leadership and multicultural programming on behalf of the university.
In her remarks at the award event, Bissoondial noted that it was the YWCA that hired her for her first job in youth development. While pursuing her undergraduate degree at Worcester State, she worked as an after-school coordinator for the Y.
“It was here where I developed relationships with families, teachers, and school districts, learned to develop curriculum, and tied my education to practice,” she said.
Bissoondial spent three years in that role and after graduation moved on to spend the next 23 years in higher education providing access and retention services, often to the very same students she mentored at the Y and, later on, their children. She has worked at Worcester State since 2002 and was appointed as OMA director in 2022.
“The Office of Multicultural Affairs at Worcester State University gave me the opportunity and space to continue the work in the development and advancement of our community’s right of education,” she said. “This office is a 51-year-old legacy which has been a champion in serving and empowering the invisible: our first generation and ALANA/BIPOC students; even during times of vulnerability and doubt.”
During her time at OMA, Bissoondial also has facilitated and supported a comprehensive campus-wide strategy that addresses academic and cultural gaps to ensure that equity is at the forefront of service delivery in all aspects of the university. These strategies have created models and offices throughout the institution that continue to serve all students.
Bissoondial’s work and life experiences reflect her dedication to ensuring BIPOC students can succeed academically without barriers. In 2022, she received the Key to the City of Worcester along with the Office of Multicultural Affairs for the impact, retention rate, and graduation of ALANA/BIPOC, first-generation and low-income students at Worcester State. Earlier in her career, she received Special Congressional recognition for her youth development work.
She serves as a member of the board of directors for the Multicultural Wellness Center and as chairwoman of Worcester’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Youth Breakfast Committee.
The Erskine Award is named after Katharine Forbes Erskine, who twice served as president of the YWCA’s board of directors, once in 1930 and again in 1960. She was a dedicated advocate for women in the local community, encouraging education and building businesses that support Worcester.
Pictured above: Laxmi Bissoondial (center) with Catherine McEvoy and Debbie Hall at the award eveny- photo by Felicia Riffelmacher
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