Two Point Park officials will be given the YWCA’s Racial Justice Awards on Oct. 29 for their promotion of racial equality.

The two awardees at the 23rd Annual Racial Justice Awards Luncheon at the Weston Hotel are Point Park campus police Chief Jeff Besong and George Rowland White Endowed Professor of Accounting Edward Scott.

“I was a little shocked, and at the end of the day, Point Park made it all possible,” Scott, who is receiving the award in the education category, said.

“I was surprised, but proud. I wasn’t really aware of the award,” Besong, who is also Assistant Vice President of Public Safety, said. He is receiving the award in the category of Public Safety.

The YWCA’s Racial Justice Awards is one of the first award ceremoies in the city that honors “the ones who have taken some action to promote racial equality,” Magdeline Jensen, CEO of the YWCA Greater Pittsburgh, said. It is also the YWCA’s signature event.

A selection committee chooses a winner for each category out of a group of nominees. The committee selects winners based on a criterion that examines a nomination form sent in by a member of the community ahead of time. 

“Anyone can be nominated to win an award,” Jensen said.

Scott was nominated for the award by Helen Sobehart, Associate Academic Vice President for Graduate Education at Point Park. Sobehart also used to be on the YWCA board for racial and gender equality, which is how she became familiar with the Racial Justice Awards.

Sobehart met Scott about three years ago when she started working for Point Park. Last year, Scott invited Sobehart to be a moderator for an Urban Accounting Initiative panel, which is an organization that gives middle school and high school minority students the opportunity to make connections with professionals in the accounting field.

“I was overwhelmingly impressed by what the young students were saying about Dr. Scott,” Sobehart said. “I saw how involved he was and how he opened their eyes to new careers.”

Scott also works with the Accounting Career Awareness Program, which is a summer camp geared toward minority high school juniors and seniors who are interested in the accounting field where, according to Scott, they talk about how “to succeed as a professional in the field.”

“I’ve always been working with organizations that help kids,” Scott said in his office a few days before the award ceremony.

He feels that minorities are underrepresented in the accounting field, which is what drives him to make kids more aware of the possibilities. He also feels that education is a gateway to a more racially tolerant world.

“The more educated you are, the more confidence you have,” Scott said.

Scott cites a lesson he learned playing high school football as a source for his drive. He was replaced as a starting defensive back on his team by a player from a different school. Scott asked the coach why he was replaced saying that he was “just as good” as his replacement. “Strive to be better,” his coach replied. Since then, Scott has been trying to instill that message in his students through his encouragement and leadership.

“We’re very fortunate to have him as a professor who keeps reaching out to the community,” Sobehart said.

The YWCA is also recognizing Besong for a Racial Justice Award after he was nominated by colleague Sgt. Nicholas Black.

“We strive for diversity; it’s just our makeup here,” Besong said in his office, referring to his branch’s hiring policy. “We don’t set out to hire a certain kind of person here. We set out to hire the best.”

Besong cites his parents as role models who taught him from a young age to not discriminate against anyone for being different.

“Even when growing up in a tough neighborhood in the 60’s, my parents never used derogatory words to describe somebody,” Besong said. “My wife and I try to do the same, we raised our children to see not race, but people.”

Besong also mandates diversity training for officers, which teaches about all ethnicities here at Point Park.

“In law enforcement, it’s hard for some to hold in their biases and act professionally,” Besong said. “It can be a challenge when peers have a different point of view than you.”

Besong said that racism has not been a problem in his department, but diversity training is there to help inform people of the different types of culture seen in the city and at Point Park. 

Other than working as Assistant Vice President of Public Safety and Chief of Police of Point Park, Besong is a member of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement (NOBLE), an adjunct professor of Criminal Justice, and a sponsor of the Criminal Justice Club.

“I’m proud of all we’ve done here, and I accept the award not on my own behalf, but on the behalf of this department and Point Park University,” Besong said.

This year, there are ten recipients in eight categories including arts, community engagement, education, government, healthcare, legal and public safety.

“Diversity is a celebration, and we acknowledge the people who move us forward,” Jensen said.