By Rachel Williams, NACAC Communications

New Orleans, LA (July 31, 2024) – For the first time at a Guiding the Way to Inclusion conference, NACAC presented three awards designed to recognize the exceptional and innovative contributions of individuals, institutions, and organizations in advancing equity, inclusion, and diversity.  

These inaugural awards were presented at the 45th annual Guiding the Way to Inclusion conference on July 31 in New Orleans. 

The Excellence in Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity Award – Individual 

Winner: Ashley Pallie, executive director of undergraduate admissions and chief admissions officer, California Institute of Technology 

This award recognizes an individual’s efforts to boost DEI through engagement, collaboration, and partnership; advocate for justice and equity; promote learning and education on inclusivity; and create transformative organizational and structural change, both internally at an institution or broadly within the college admission counseling profession.  

Pallie earned this award for her leadership and pioneering efforts at CalTech. She has connected with partners to create pathways for underserved students, ensuring that CalTech remains accessible to all who aspire to pursue STEM education, regardless of background or circumstance. She also has advocated for greater higher education access and resources for historically marginalized groups and has implemented innovative approaches to admission that prioritize merit alongside holistic considerations of students’ background and experiences.  

The Excellence in Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity Award – Organization  

Winner: College Horizons 

This award recognizes efforts to boost DEI through engagement, collaboration, and partnership; advocate for justice and equity; promote learning and education on inclusivity; and create transformative organizational and structural change, both internally at an institution or broadly within the college admission counseling profession.  

This year’s award was presented to College Horizons, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing the number of Native American, native Alaskan, and native Hawaiian students who enroll, succeed, and graduate from college, and professional and graduate schools. Since 1998, they have served more than 4,000 students. 

They have a proven track record of getting institutions to be more inclusive of the student groups they serve — 99 percent of their students have been admitted to college, 95 percent attend a four-year institution, and 85 percent have graduated college in five years.  

Beverly Henry Wheeler Lifetime Achievement Award 

Presented to Beverly Henry Wheeler, this award recognizes long-term, exemplary efforts toward advancing equity, inclusion, and diversity made during the recipient’s time in the college admission profession.  

Wheeler has worked in college recruiting for over 35 years, now as a regional director of admission at Hendrix College. She served as president of both the Texas Association for College Admission Counseling (TACAC) and the NACAC Board of Directors. She has served as a GWI faculty member, small group facilitator, and as GWI faculty lead for the past two years. Wheeler serves on the board of directors of Colleges That Change Lives, a nonprofit organization that advocates for higher education access and college choice. She received the TACAC Founder’s Award in 2016, and in 2018 received the TACAC Honorary Lifetime Member Award in recognition of her devotion to students and exemplary contributions to the admission profession. Her expertise includes enrollment management, relationship building, and professional ethics, and she has traveled across the country speaking on these topics and others related to the college admission process.