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Watch the 2022 UW-Whitewater Campus Awards Ceremony
 
Alyssa Dobbs (Greendale, Wis./Greendale) of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's cross country and track and field programs earned the Mackin Commitment to Diversity award, which was presented at the university's annual Campus Awards ceremony in May.
 
Dr. Elizabeth Watson, UW-Whitewater's Dean of Students, presented Dobbs the award, which is named for former Dean of Students Mary Beth Mackin, who passed away in 2015 following a 27-year career at UW-W. The award recognizes one undergraduate student and one faculty member who demonstrate a continuous commitment to diversity and inclusion and a respectful treatment of interactions and communications with others.
 
Dobbs is an advocate of diversity and inclusion who is actively involved in the campus community. She works at UW-Whitewater's PB Poorman Pride Center, an open and welcoming space for all LGBTQ+ and ally students to relax, study and socialize, and is a member of the university's chapter of Active Minds, a national student organization that empowers young adults to speak openly about mental health, to encourage people to seek health and to prevent suicide. UW-W's Active Minds chapter was named Chapter of the Year in February out of 600 Active Minds chapters in the United States.
 
Dobbs is also a part of UW-Whitewater's ROTC and the Wisconsin National Guard's 457th Chemical Company, which supports Army operations in a chemical, biological or radiological environment.
 
Dobbs is a physical education major with minors in health education, special education and leadership and military science.
 
On the cross country course, Dobbs finished among the team's top seven at all four of her races in 2021. She placed sixth on the team at both the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship and the NCAA North Regional. During the track and field season, she recorded a career-best time of 5:24.87 in the 1,500-meter run and raced three other distances for the Warhawks.