The Office of Minority Student Services provides a comprehensive program of services for minority students. The office works cooperatively with campus and community groups to encourage academic excellence, to strengthen leadership skills and to enrich cultural awareness. Minority Student Services is committed to creating a multicultural friendly campus atmosphere and community spirit.

Cecil College's Laney Hoxter Receives MSTA Community Award

Cecil College director of minority student services Laney Hoxter of Bear, Del. was recently presented with the Maryland State Teachers Association Community Award at the MSTA Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Breakfast and Minority Recognition Awards Program in Baltimore. The purpose of the Community Award is for the MSTA and its Minority Affairs Committee to provide statewide recognition to those minority individuals who have promoted and/or demonstrated leadership in public education. Recipients demonstrate dedication to public education by their involvement in activities such as providing individual support to students, educational employees and parents; sponsoring on-going school-related activities; advocating public education issues; consistently giving leadership, long hours and loyalty to public education; and presenting a positive image of public education and educators.

"Although I certainly feel it's an honor to be recognized by an outside group, I do what I do not to get an award or to be rewarded," said Hoxter. "I do what I do because I enjoy doing it." Hoxter, who has worked at Cecil College for 14 years, has been very active in the community through numerous programs and activities. She sponsors the annual Unity in the Community Festival, Minority Recruitment Day, and celebrations for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Native American heritage, and diverse holidays. She established the Minority Student Service Advisory Board, which is comprised of students, parents, educators from public schools, community college representatives, and business professionals.

Hoxter has organized A Soulful Celebration of Drama and Dance and poetry workshops and contests for children and parents. She also helps students complete college and scholarship applications, and has transported Cecil County Public Schools students to a variety of locations for enriching and learning opportunities.

"What I like most about my job is that I can be creative and offer opportunities to students of all of ages, races and ethnicities," said Hoxter. "I hope they continue to take advantage of these opportunities, so that when they come to Cecil College this is not a strange place. We need to make learning exciting and fun for our youth. We need to expose them to and engage them in educational and cultural enrichment activities."

A committed volunteer, Hoxter is the educational chairperson for the Cecil County branch of the NAACP and a member of the Maryland NAACP Educational Committee. She was active with the Cecil County Health Promotions Tobacco Cessation programs and a member of the Community Action Team. Hoxter has been a board member for Family Services of Cecil County, chairperson for the American Cancer Society Relay For Life in Wilmington, Del., and president of the board for Read Aloud Delaware. She has received local awards from the NAACP, Blacks in Government, and Wright's A.M.E. Church African-American Women Making a Difference in Cecil County. In addition, she is a proud member of the Wilmington Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Hoxter earned a bachelor's degree in liberal studies from the University of Delaware. Her degree was designed to aid black autistic children, and her coursework focused on psychology, child development, communications, education and black studies. She then enrolled at West Chester State University, where she earned a master's degree in education with a specialty in higher education counseling.

For more information about Minority Student Services at Cecil College or the Minority Student Union, please call 410-287-1043.