ADL presents Torch of Liberty Awards to Taylor, Mueller
Phyllis Taylor and Gordon “Nick” Mueller, whose institutions are located just a few feet from each other, found themselves near one another again on Tuesday night, December 1, as they were recognized by the local chapter of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) with its coveted A. I. “B” Botnick Torch of Liberty Award. More than 500 people attended the dinner in the Grand Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
Phyllis Taylor, left, receives the 2015 A.I. “B” Botnick Torch of Liberty Award from Carol Suggs. (Photo by Gary Michael Smith)
Allison Padilla-Goodman, regional director of the South Central Region of the ADL, acknowledged the philanthropic and community work the two have done. “Phyllis Taylor and Nick Mueller are two people who have never been short of dreams—they think big and achieve the seemingly impossible,” she said. “We are so proud and privileged to honor them.”
Taylor administers the TOPS scholars program founded by her late husband and runs the Patrick Taylor Foundation located in Lee Circle. Mueller has served as president of the nearby National World War II Museum for some time, overseeing an impressive expansion campaign there that has established it as the number one tourist destination in the city and the third most popular in the nation, according to a number of travel sites.
Taylor’s award was presented by Carol Suggs along with former Loyola University president, the Reverend James Carter, himself a Torch of Liberty recipient in 1983.
Gordon “Nick” Mueller, PhD, at the ADL dinner. (Photo by Gary Michael Smith)
Mueller’s award was presented by another former university president, Norman Francis, who retired as the nation’s longest-serving college president when he stepped won from his Xavier University post earlier this year. Francis received assistance in his presentation to Mueller with Susan Hess.
Also acknowledged at the dinner were Ann Abbrecht and Carol Stone, both board members of the ADL’s South Central Regional Education Committee. Michael Botnick, a past regional board chair, and Karen Sher, a member of the current board, presented Abbrecht and Stone the Barney Mintz Leadership Award.
Padilla-Goodman acknowledged that both Abbrecht and Stone are going to be taking part in the ADL’s Shana Glass National Leadership Conference this spring in Washington D.C.
With the recent flashpoints in Baltimore and Ferguson, MO. fanned by accusations of discrimination and bigotry, Padilla-Goodman noted her organization’s commitment to working with law enforcement.
“ADL is the leading authority on hate crimes and trains more than 12,000 law enforcement officers a year,” she noted. “ADL’s work is even more relevant today because of recent events.”
Board chair Nancy Timm introduced ADL student leaders Alyssa Trips, from Carver Prep, and Xavier University and TOPS scholar Darryl Coulon. They gave a presentation titled “I Am Not a Stereotype.”
“I have the privilege of witnessing first-hand the power of our programs to transform a school or a community to a place of respect,” Timm stated.
“Now in its second century, ADL has stood up to all forms of bigotry and discrimination,” Padilla-Goodman continued. “ADL has joined virtually every major civil rights case in the courts since Brown V. Board of Education. Our work in schools combatting bigotry, bullying, and cyber-hate has reached millions of students across the country.”
