Clinical Assistant Professors Nancy Raschke Deichstetter and Margaret Delaney (pictured above) received the inaugural Community Award from Loyola’s Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (OIDEI) in May in recognition of their leadership of the school’s annual immersion at a South Dakota reservation.

The Pine Ridge immersion, launched in 2018 by Professor P. Ann Solari-Twadell, takes nursing students to the rural, medically underserved Native American reservation during spring break week. During the 2025 trip, Loyola Nursing hosted a nursing career fair for high school students at Mahpíya Lúta, a school on the reservation; visited Pine Ridge Hospital; and met with community leaders.

The Community Award was part of OIDEI’s annual READI (Racial Justice, Equity, Accessibility, Diversity, and Inclusive Excellence) Impact awards, which recognize campus changemakers whose work fosters an inclusive, human-centered culture of belonging. The award included $10,000 to support Loyola’s mission.

According to OIDEI, the Pine Ridge immersion “expanded the perspectives of Loyola’s own students on health care access, cultural humility, and the social determinants of health.”