6 to receive Suazo award

Five individuals and an agency each will receive a Pete Suazo Social Justice Award on April 1 at the University of Utah.

The awards, created to honor the life of the late state senator, will be awarded at a luncheon following a diversity conference.

The awards are given to those who dedicate themselves to achieving social and economic justice for all.

A selection committee, including members of Suazo's family, chooses the winners through a statewide nomination process.

"People who do this work rarely get the recognition they deserve," said Farrina Coulam, director of the university's College of Social Work professional and community education program.

The focus of the eighth annual diversity conference will be diversity in mental health. Speakers will include Mack Gift, executive director of the Mental Health Association in Utah, and Judge William B. Bohling, who presided over the state's first mental health court, 2001-2004.

There also will be a screening of the film "Two Towns of Jasper," which documents a 1998 racially motivated murder in Texas.

The conference and screening are free. The awards luncheon is $15. Advance registration is encouraged. For more information, call 801-581-8913.