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Center for Civic Engagement
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Salem State University’s Center for Civic Engagement inducted six members into its Civic Engagement Hall of Fame on Monday, April 8.
The new inductees include undergraduate student Kimberly Barboza; graduate student Fillette Lovaincy; professor of biology Joseph Buttner; marketing and creative services graphic designer Susan McCarthy; alumna Debra Lee Surface; and alumna Edna Mauriello, a long-time faculty member and administrator at Salem State who was posthumously honored.
The induction ceremony, which was held at Bambolina on Derby Street in Salem, is an annual event that recognizes individuals’ commitment to improving their communities.
Every year, the Salem State University community nominates possible recipients from four categories: alumni, faculty, staff/administration, and student. This year the center added a category for graduate students and granted its first posthumous honor following the passing of an alumna, long-time faculty member and administrator, Edna Mauriello.
Senior Director of Salem State’s institutional advancement office, Mandy Ray, worked closely with Mauriello, who graduated from Salem State in 1944, on many alumni volunteer projects.
“Dr. Mauriello’s love for Salem State went beyond her experience as a student. She gave her life to the school,” said Ray.
“She was a joy to know and just a remarkable person and I’m thrilled that the university could honor such a legend in this truly special way.”
According to the Center for Civic Engagement, nominees are recognized for advocating for and leading programs that support marginalized communities; connecting individual research and scholarship to improve public outcomes; coordinating events and programs that address social injustices and support civic causes; being involved in nonprofit organizations; and helping students recognize and use their civic agency to bring about social change.
The Center for Civic Engagement is dedicated to the promotion of community involvement, civic engagement, social justice and the creation of partnerships between the Salem State students, faculty and staff, and local community members.
About the Recipients
Alumni Recipient, Debra Lee Surface: Debra Lee Surface serves on a number of boards and committees throughout the North Shore including the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless board of trustees, the Development Committee, and the organization A Bed for Every Child Program where she serves as an advocate on behalf of children.
Surface received a Bachelor’s degree from Salem State in 2005 and is receiving a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University this May. Surface is the vice president of administration within Salem State’s Alumni Board of Directors, which includes oversees the boards’ administrative subcommittees, serves on the Dean of Arts and Sciences’ advisory board, and received the 2017 Alumni Association Rising star Award.
Surface’s Civic Engagement Hall of Fame Community Partner is the Massachusetts Coalition’s organization A Bed for Every Child Program.
Alumni Recipient Edna Mauriello, PhD: Edna Mauriello, PhD of Swampscott taught illiterate soldiers how to read during World War II and was the research assistant for the neurosurgeon who developed methods of treating aphasia, loss of ability to understand or express speech, caused by brain damage, in soldiers returning from the battlefield while she was in graduate school.
After graduating from Salem State Mauriello became a professor of education at the university and also served as the dean of students. During her time at Salem State, she founded the Counseling Center and co-founded Project Cope, a community outreach program that supported the rehabilitation of people struggling with addiction. Before Mauriello passed away in 2018, Salem State University named university’s Educators Hall of Fame’s lifetime achievement award after her.
Staff/administration Recipient Susan McCarthy: Susan McCarthy of Nahant began her career at Salem State as a graphic designer in 1986 and now works within the university’s marketing and creative services.
McCarthy became a member of the Board of Directors of the Lynn Cancer Association in 2008 and has helped the association transform into the Boston North Cancer Association (BCNA) through her redesigning of the organization's logo and executing other important rebranding efforts. Since the associations rebranding, McCarthy has served as the organization’s vice president and is now the president of BCNA.
McCarthy’s Civic Engagement Hall of Fame community partner is BCNA. For more information on the association, visit their website bostonnorthcancer.org.
Faculty Recipient Joseph Buttner, PhD: Salem State Biology Professor Joseph Buttner, PhD has been involved in the aquatic science field for nearly four decades at Salem State as a faculty member and researcher focusing on sustainable aquaculture. Buttner is an outreach specialist for the Cat Cove Marine Laboratory and coordinator for the Northeastern Massachusetts Aquaculture Center at Salem State.
As a lifetime member of the American Fisheries Society and charter member of the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association, Buttner serves on the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Aquaculture Association and pursues a research and outreach agenda where students collaborate on projects with the public. Over the years, Buttner has authored and co-authored more than 90 peer-reviewed articles and has secured over $200 million dollars in funding used to support students and research.
Buttner’s Civic Engagement Hall of Fame community partner is the Full Circle Earth. For more information, visit the organization’s website fullcircleearth.org.
Undergraduate Student Recipient Kimberly Barboza: Barboza of East Wareham is graduating this May with a degree in Political Science. Barboza is a member of the Commonwealth Honors Program and is president of both the Florence Luscomb Women’s Center and Admissions Ambassadors Program. During her academic career at Salem State, Barboza has developed programming around gender equity, reproductive justice, racial justice, and disability advocacy.
Barboza has been an intern for MASSPIRG where she managed a student-centered grassroots campaign to stop the use of needless antibiotics on factory farms through lobbying her local, state, and national representatives. Most recently, Barboza worked as an intern for U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren assisting staff in research, publications, and servicing Massachusetts residents.
Barboza’s Civic Engagement Hall of Fame community partner is the Salem YMCA GreenSpace. For more information about GreenSpace, visit their website northshoreymca.org/programs/salem-ymca-greenspace.
Graduate Student Recipient Fillette Lovaincy: Haitian-American and Somerville native Fillette Lovaincy studies Higher Education in the Student Affairs graduate program at Salem State and is graduating this May.
Lovaincy participates on campus in many organizations including the Leadership, Engagement, Advocacy and Diversity (LEAD) office, the Charlotte Forten Committee where she helps keep Charlotte Forten’s Legacy alive, and the Bold Educated Empowered Sisters (BEES) program where she serves as coordinator and has redesigned the program based on five principles, which include community outreach, identify development and mentorship.
Lovaincy has also spent her last semester at the university as an intern for the Academic Advising department in the Center for Academic Excellence.
Lovaincy’s Civic Engagement Hall of Fame community partner is Girls, Inc. of Lynn. For more information about girls, Inc., visit their website girlsinclynn.org.