On June 7, at its Annual Recognition and Celebration Luncheon, the Vera House Inc. board of directors will present the Sister Mary Vera Recognition Award to Rami S. Badawy L'00, director of judicial affairs at Syracuse University and former prosecutor in the Onondaga County District Attorney's Office Special Victims Bureau. The award honors a member of the Central New York community who has performed substantial work to address domestic violence and sexual assault in a manner reflective of Sister Mary Vera's personal "humility, gentleness and humanitarian spirit."
Badawy's recognition stems in part from his leadership of the White Ribbon Campaign, for which he served this year as a member of the Syracuse University White Ribbon Campaign Committee, chaired by Barry L. Wells, senior vice president and dean of student affairs. SU eclipsed its goal of becoming the community's largest fundraiser in the 2007 campaign, raising more than $13,000 for Vera House's Alternatives Program -- more than three times as much as SU raised the previous year. This was a record-breaking year for the campaign, which is now in its 13th year: Vera House estimates that more than 42,000 members of the Central New York community wore white ribbons to symbolize their commitment to ending domestic violence.
Working closely with the Office of Student Life's Roy W. Baker, director of fraternity and sorority affairs, Badawy organized one of the SU campaign's highlight events, a March 28 panel discussion titled "Responding to Domestic and Sexual Violence -- the University and the City: Two Communities as One."
Hundreds of members of the SU Greek community and other recognized student organizations attended the discussion, in which representatives from the Onondaga County District Attorney's Office and Vera House joined staff and students from the University Rape, Advocacy, Prevention and Education (R.A.P.E.) Center; SU's Office of Multicultural Affairs; SU's Department of Public Safety; the Interfraternity Council; and the Panhellenic Council to talk about how SU and the community are working together to end sexual violence. Recognized student organizations accounted for more than $10,000 in contributions to this year's campaign.
The campaign is one of several SU/community partnerships aimed at ending domestic and sexual violence. Others include Take Back the Night Week, the "Got Consent?" campaign, SU's participation in the grant-funded Syracuse Partnership for Violence Prevention, and participation in the national Day of Silence sponsored by the LGBT Resource Center.
Badawy was named director of judicial affairs in 2006. Prior to joining SU, he was a prosecutor in the Onondaga County District Attorney's Office Special Victims Bureau, where he worked with victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Previously, he was employed at Smith, Sovik, Kendrick & Sugnet. Badawy has been an active member of the Syracuse Area Domestic and Sexual Violence Coalition; at present, he is co-chair of the coalition's Diversity Task Force.
The luncheon at which Badawy will be recognized will be held at the Doubletree Hotel in East Syracuse, beginning at noon. Tickets are $25. For more information or to purchase tickets, call (315) 425-0818.
