User:Rchristopherdimezzo/sandbox

R. Christopher Di Mezzo was the 154th President of the Thelomathesian Society at St. Lawrence University. Di Mezzo was born in Rome, New York to Frank John Di Mezzo Jr. and Tammy Ciotti Di Mezzo, both public school teachers. The Thelomathesian Society is one of the oldest student government associations in the United States. St. Lawrence University is a small, private liberal arts college in upstate New York. While at St. Lawrence, Di Mezzo majored in government, performance and communication arts, as well as minored in gender and sexuality studies.

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Di Mezzo is best know for his work with diversity and inclusion in his community. At St. Lawrence, he spent much of his time working with the campus community to improve the lives of those who lived there. He used his various roles on campus to be an advocate for all members of the St. Lawrence community — through raising issues with the university’s administration and Board of Trustees. Di Mezzo has spent a great deal of time working to solve those same issues.

In the Fall of 2015 Di Mezzo co-founded the Thelomathesian Society’s Committee of Diversity and Inclusion. The goal of the committee was to better understand the needs of the student body in terms of community — the committee was a success. In the Spring of 2017, he created an award to celebrate the work of Diversity and Inclusion on campus. The Samantha Mae Colton Leadership in Diversity and Inclusion Award, named for the Committee’s first Chairperson is awarded to students who have worked to make the St. Lawrence University community a more inclusive place to live and learn. With the award, the recipient receives a $750.00 grant to continue their work of inclusion on campus. As a gender and sexuality studies minor, much of Di Mezzo's work was inspired by the classroom and through coursework. In the Fall 2016, he and another student, wrote a grant to provide free feminine hygiene products on campus, in our most public spaces — the Sullivan Student Center and the Owen D. Young Library. The program was a great success and will be expanded to include more of campus in the coming semesters. For the first time, in the summer of 2017, the Thelomathesian Society, under his leadership, along with serval other campus constituencies, purchased and sent to all incoming students, copies of Vernā Myers' book: What If I Say the Wrong Thing? 25 Habits for Culturally Effective People.