The University Internship Programs recently received an EOP Champion Award from the U.Va. Office of Equal Opportunity Programs.  These annual awards recognize U.Va. community members who have excelled in making the workplace a more welcoming climate for all to succeed and have made contributions to the cause of social justice and equal rights.  Recipients represent a variety of individuals and groups who strive to advocate and recruit for underrepresented students and faculty, and who have taken new approaches to promotes diversity in their educational and work settings.

Historically, student enrollment in the UIP's Academic Year Programs is 70-80% female students and 30-35% minority students.  For the 2009-10 Academic Year, 71% of the interns were female and 29% were male.  In addition, 29% of the female interns were minority students, and 22% of the male interns were minority students.

Karen Farber, Director of the University Internship Programs, had the following award citation: "The University Internship Programs builds bridges between underrepresented communities and establishes connections among individual groups in various ways.  The missions of many of the UIP internship sponsoring organizations in which students serve have racial minority and/or female populations.  UIP actively recruits women and racial minority students for admission to the program and actively pursues diverse internship sponsors to serve as supervisors and mentors to its interns."

For more information, please read U.Va. Today's News Release.