Denver College of Nursing Presents Diversity in Action Award to Ruschival

Denver College of Nursing (DCN) has recognized Michael Ruschival, director of student services, with the nursing college’s Diversity in Action Award, designed to reward a faculty or staff member for their new ways of including and addressing diversity in the curricula or on campus, said Dr. Cathy Maxwell, president of DCN.

With the Denver College of Nursing since 2010, Ruschival provides guidance to the student body, serves as liaison to career services and coordinates campus-wide activities, programs and services that foster students’ academic, personal and professional development. He directs these services to create a stimulating and supportive environment that enhances the personal development, learning, educational success and career preparation for all students, Maxwell said.

In nominations submitted by faculty, staff and students, Ruschival was cited as “always available for the students; always going above and beyond to helping students of all different backgrounds, often above his normal job duties.”  Other nominations stated “he works with all students to assist them with their many needs.  He shows kindness to everyone, regardless of their socioeconomic status, and his work with the Student Nurse Association also supports his approach to diversity at DCN.”

He holds his master of science in organizational leadership from Colorado State University-Global Campus, his graduate certificate in health informatics from the University of California-Davis Extension and his bachelor of arts from Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, MN. 

DCN’s student population represents a variety of racial backgrounds, including a male enrollment of 13.5 percent, the highest ratio in Colorado. DCN created the Diversity in Action Award in honor of the first black woman to complete nurse’s training in 1879 in the United States. Mary Mahoney, a nurse, and a women’s rights and civil rights activist, was inducted into the Nursing Hall of Fame in 1976 and the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993.