Elizabethtown College presents Educate for Service Awards

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Rachel Jones Williams

• James Buford
• Nancy (Zwally) Dering Mock

ELIZABETHTOWN, PA (11/13/2014)(readMedia)-- The highest honor Elizabethtown graduates can receive from the College and its alumni association recently were presented to James H. Buford, St. Louis, Mo.; Nancy (Zwally) Dering Mock, Ponte Verde, Fla.; and the late Rachel Jones Williams. The Educate for Service Awards given by Elizabethtown College President Dr. Carl J. Strikwerda and Elizabeth O. Romaine '02, president of the Elizabethtown College Alumni Association, Friday, Oct. 24, at the College's President's Dinner, have been a tradition since 1966. They acknowledge the recipients' dedication to service and are given to alumni who have demonstrated commitment to one of three areas: Service through Professional Achievement, Service to Humanity or Service to the College.

This year the Service through Professional Achievement was award to Nancy (Zwally) Dering Mock '76. Dering Mock's ability to motivate and teach others in ways that have led to greater success and achievement, positively impact countless others across numerous professional sectors. She founded The Dering Consulting Group, which she served as president from 1986 until 1999. The company's client list included Fortune 500 companies, educational and health care institutions and nonprofit organizations. She worked with all levels of government, as well as with projects involving Argentina and Zimbabwe.

Dering Mock worked in support roles for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, serving under governors Thomas J. Ridge and Edward G. Rendell. She also held the position of president-elect of the National Association of State Personnel Executives (NASPE) and was the 2006 recipient of the NASPE Eugene Rooney Award for Leadership in Human Resources. She was an adjunct faculty member at the H. John Heinz School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University until 2007. An accomplished author, she wrote a series of six books that were published in 2003. She now advances leadership and organization development as principal in her consulting practice, Nancy Dering, Inc.

The alumna held officer and member positions on numerous leadership boards and executive committees throughout the Harrisburg region, earning numerous significant awards and prestigious designations. Of particular note are her selection for the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, the YWCA Tribute to Women of Excellence in 2004, Harrisburg Magazine's 2006 Movers and Shapers, Harrisburg Regional Chamber 2006 Athena Award, acknowledgement by Central Penn Business Journal as a 2012 Women of Influence, a 2013 American Society for Public Administration Central PA Chapter's Lifetime Achievement Award and the United Way of the Capital Region 2013 Volunteer Leadership Award.

After her graduation from Elizabethtown in 1976 with a bachelor's degree in professional studies, she earned her master's degree-with highest honors-from Temple University in 1982.

James H. Buford '80 was presented with the Service to Humanity award for his career in service. As a civil rights leader in the state of Missouri, that spans more than a quarter of a century, he has had a positive impact on others throughout the greater St. Louis region.

Buford joined the Republican National Committee to elect Ronald Reagan, which culminated in a six-month service position in the White House. In 1985, Buford began a 28-year career as leader of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, in which he led the organization through unprecedented levels of growth. Initially supporting a few thousand people with a $2.5 million budget, he guided the Urban League to an unprecedented level of annually serving more than 66,000 citizens through a $13 million budget.

The E-town alumnus broadened and developed the overall structure of the League by creating the Urban League Guild and Progressive Young Adults youth auxiliary; establishing service regions in St. Louis County, St. Louis City and St. Clair County; and assisting with a partnership to operate a national $5-million Head Start program in St. Louis City with the YWCA.

Buford has served as an officer or board member of several local and regional leadership groups and was nominated to serve on the Harris-Stowe State University Board of Regents to assist with developing policies and providing oversight to the university's administration and operation.

In light of recent tragic events in Ferguson, Mo., and continuing unrest in and around the region, Buford was selected to serve on a task force aimed at promoting healing and reconciliation throughout the communities of the greater St. Louis area. He has received numerous awards, honors and accolades for his efforts to promote inclusion and fairness for minorities and disenfranchised citizens in the St. Louis and surrounding communities-especially African-Americans, including honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degrees from Harris-Stowe State College, the University of Missouri–St. Louis, Webster University and Eden Theological Seminary.

Buford earned an associate degree from St. Louis Community College and a bachelor's degree in professional studies in human services administration from Elizabethtown College in 1980.

Linda Jones-Williams, mother of Rachel Jones Williams '06, attended the President's Dinner to accept her daughter's Service to the College award, presented posthumously by the Alumni Association. Whereas the influence of some becomes less concentrated on the College after graduation, Jones Williams focused more deeply on transforming her alma mater.

A member of the Alumni Council, Jones Williams, who lived in Harrisburg, Pa., attended the College as a traditional student at the age of 34. While studying history and women and gender studies, she founded the Noir black student society and was an active member of the Intercultural Board and the Integrity Committee. In 2005, as president of Noir, she rallied the entire campus community to host the first Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration, ensuring that the College would continue to sponsor programs connecting Dr. King's dream to contemporary issues.

Upon being elected to the Alumni Council in the fall of 2011, Jones Williams became involved with the governance of the Elizabethtown College Alumni Association and lived and loved the Elizabethtown College Alumni Association's slogan "Blue Jays. Always." Affectionately referring to the College as "the E," she wore her beloved "E"-logo pin on and off campus, literally and figuratively holding Elizabethtown close to her heart at all times.

She rarely missed the Elizabethtown College traditions of Homecoming, the student Thanksgiving Dinner, Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony and Commencement and was firmly positioned at graduation, greeting students and serving as a role model for minority students as testament to and affirmation of their achievements.

After graduating in 2006, Jones Williams earned a master's degree in museum studies at the Cooperstown (New York) Graduate Program for History and Museum Studies. Throughout her graduate work, Elizabethtown remained a priority; she never refused a request to visit to conduct a class lecture or assist with programs.

Rachel Jones Williams died in October 2013 at the age of 44.

Elizabethtown College, located in historic Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is a private coed institution offering more than four dozen liberal arts, fine and performing arts, science and engineering, business, communications and education degrees. Learn more: http://www.etown.edu/about/

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