RIT has been recognized with the Higher Education Excellence and Distinction (HEED) Champion Award, as announced by Insight Into Academia magazine. This marks the 12th consecutive year RIT has received the HEED Award and the 11th consecutive year of being named a champion. The HEED Award is given annually to higher education institutions that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to inclusion and belonging across campus. Awardees earn the distinction after a comprehensive review of the institution’s policies, strategies, programs, initiatives, demographics, and protocols. HEED Champions exceed expectations and often surpass goals. “RIT’s longevity in receiving this award is a testament to our ongoing commitment to making our university a welcoming, open space for people of all backgrounds,” said Keith Jenkins, vice president and associate provost for Access, Engagement, and Success. “We are honored to once again be recognized for this distinction.” As one of 62 recipients at the undergraduate level, RIT will be featured in an upcoming issue of Insight Into Academia. The publication describes itself as a leader in advancing best practices in higher education excellence and belonging. Its awards help celebrate undergraduate institutions, community colleges, health professions schools, graduate schools, and law schools. More information on the HEED Award and the magazine can be found at the Insight Into Academia website.

A clock with a human face, a lamp base with a hidden compartment, and an Art Nouveau-inspired high chair are among the objects featured in a new RIT Archives exhibit honoring a trailblazing alumna. "Carving a Legacy" celebrates the late Ellen Swartz’s achievements as an artist and a role model for women woodworkers and furniture designers. The exhibit is located on the third floor of Wallace Library and is accessible until the end of the academic year. ‌ RIT Archives Furniture maker and educator Ellen Swartz graduated from RIT’s School for American Crafts in 1966. Swartz started as a violin student at the Eastman School of Music but left her studies to build and repair violins. In 1964, she applied to RIT’s School for American Crafts and, in 1966, became the first woman to graduate with an associate’s degree in woodworking and furniture design.  “Ellen Swartz holds a legendary place in the College of Art and Design,” said Elizabeth Call, RIT university archivist. “At a time when women were expected to choose only from a narrow set of professions, she carved out a path in furniture making, a field virtually closed to them. Her persistence and artistry remind us how much courage it takes to change what’s possible.” Swartz completed around 200 woodworking projects, including chairs, tables, stands, magazine racks, and lamps, and sold her furniture through a Boston-based gallery. She explored working with stacked and laminated plywood and wrote about her technique in a 1977 issue of Fine Woodworking magazine. She balanced her interest in furniture making with a career in education, first as an industrial arts teacher and, later as a consultant for the Rochester City School District. Swartz, who died in 2018, had earned advanced degrees in counseling and education from the State University of New York at Brockport and from the University of Rochester. She co-authored three books about urban education and culturally informed curriculum and pedagogy, and taught at Nazareth University, Niagara University, and Pace University.   The artist’s husband, Joel Swartz, a 1969 alumnus with a BFA in photography, donated the Dr. Ellen Swartz collection to the RIT Archives in 2019.