The Reverend Dr. Jacquita Wright-Henderson, First Episcopal District
It was a normal day in the lives of the Delaware State University’s women’s lacrosse team as they returned home from matches in Florida and Georgia until sheriff’s deputies stopped their bus in Georgia. It was April 2022, and 25 athletes, two coaches, and an athletic trainer followed instructions as, without cause, the deputies searched their belongings. This experience resulted in Delaware State University, one of only three historically black institutions with a women’s lacrosse team, filing a Civil Rights complaint on behalf of the students.
The First District African Methodist Episcopal Women In Ministry (AMEWIM) unanimously decided that Coach Pamella Jenkins and the 2021-2022 women’s lacrosse team would be the first recipients of the newly created Diane Nash Community Award because of their courage, poise, and commitment to raising the consciousness of unjust practices in our country. AME WIM created this award to address its objective of “raising the consciousness of the AME Church on issues important to women.”
The First District AME WIM named the award for Diane Nash, a member of the influential Freedom Riders and one of the most prominent student leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. Diane Nash helped start the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and was one of the leaders of the Selma Voting Rights Movement.
These students are extraordinary examples of the power of students to create change. Coach Jenkins was grateful for the recognition and responded, “It is an honor which definitely means a lot because it came from women of faith, and faith is what got us through this situation.”
The inaugural award was presented on Wednesday, July 20, 2022, during the AME WIM Fellowship Luncheon at the First Episcopal District’s Christian Education Congress under the leadership of the Right Rev. Julius H. McAllister, Sr., Presiding Prelate; the Reverend Dr. Jay Broadnax, Executive Director; and the Reverend Lashonna Smith, Chairperson.
During the luncheon, AME WIM Connectional President, the Reverend Dr. Erika D. Crawford, joined the First Episcopal District AME WIM President, the Reverend Dr. Jacquita Wright-Henderson, as she presented the university’s women’s lacrosse team and Coach Pamella Jenkins with the first Diane Nash Community Award.
