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CORVALLIS - Commitment to cultural diversity and community action has earned campus honors for a group of Oregon State University educators and students.

Roy Arnold, executive associate dean for the College of Agricultural Sciences, has earned the university's first Phyllis S. Lee Award.

The award was established in 2004 to honor Lee, director emeritus of OSU's Multicultural Affairs Office. The tribute recognizes an individual who shows extraordinary dedication to social justice, human rights and access to higher education.

Receiving OSU's Martin Luther King Jr. Exemplary Service Awards were: Wil Gamble; Janet Nishihara; Derron Coles; and Christian Matheis.

Gamble, professor emeritus of biochemistry and biophysics, began his service to the university in 1962. Nishihara is OSU's academic and counseling coordinator for the Educational Opportunities Program, as well as interim director of the OSU College Assistance Migrant Program.

Coles is an OSU doctoral candidate in civil engineering from Ewynn Oaks, Md., while Matheis is a master's candidate in applied ethics from San Antonio, Texas.

The university's Frances Dancy Hooks Awards were earned by Alex Johnson, Mercedes Benton and Luke Sugie.

The Hooks Awards were established at OSU in 1994 when Hooks visited campus. An educator and former national coordinator of Women in NAACP, Hooks sought to recognize and encourage efforts in coalition building among diverse groups and individuals at OSU.

Johnson is a master's candidate in public policy from Portland. Benton has served as OSU diversity development coordinator and cultural and resource centers coordinator, and is also a post-baccalaureate scholar in history, while Sugie is a senior in chemical engineering from Beaverton.

The awards were given at OSU's 23rd annual Peace Breakfast, which honors the efforts and vision of Martin Luther King Jr.