Merze Tate Art Commission Contest winners awarded scholarships | Arts And Entertainment
WMU President Montgomery, Luchara Wallace and Todd Kuhn pose at the Merze Tate Day celebration.
The winners of the 2025 Merze Tate Art Commission Contest have been announced.
The first place winner is a collaborative piece by Symii Ruffin and Leanna Hubers. The prize for first place is a $1,000 scholarship for a future semester.
In second place is a work by Lidia Hurtado, and in third place is Sofia Mendez Ramirez. They will receive scholarships for $500 and $250, respectively.
A poetry piece written by Shelby Vaughn won an honorable mention.
The contest encouraged students to create an original work inspired by the life and work of Dr. Merze Tate to honor her legacy.
Dr. Tate is a 1927 alumna of Western Michigan University, for whom Merze Tate College is named. She was originally accepted into the Teacher Education program at the University of Michigan, but the college revoked their offer after finding out she was African American.
Upon hearing this, then-WMU President Dr. Ralph Waldo admitted Tate and provided her with a scholarship. Tate went on to complete her four-year degree in three years with the highest academic record the university had seen thus far, and became the first African American woman to graduate from WMU, the first African American woman to attend the University of Oxford and the first African American woman to earn a doctoral degree at Harvard University in government and international relations.
She is known today as having been a skilled educator, trailblazer and peacekeeper.
“The motivation behind the art contest was to encourage students to consider their connection to the legacy of Merze Tate today,” said Luchara Wallace, Dean of Merze Tate College and Professor of Special Education.
She continued: “Merze Tate College was named in her honor because her legacy represents the strength, tenacity and commitment to our university motto ‘so that all may learn.’”
Tate passed on June 27, 1996 at the age of 91 after a long life of academia, travelling and education. Her legacy lives on at WMU.
“Merze Tate is honored in several ways at WMU,” Wallace said. “Merze Tate College, the College of Education and Human Development has the Merze Tate Grant and Innovation Center, Lee Honors College has the Merze Tate Medallion Scholar and there are scholarships still offered in her name.”
More information on Merze Tate’s legacy can be found on the Merze Tate College website.
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