Coker College Professor Shirley McClerklin-Motley honored with FBI Director’s 2015 Community Leadership Award
December 7, 2015
HARTSVILLE, SC– Coker College Associate Professor of Social Work Shirley McClerklin-Motley has been selected as the 2015 recipient of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s annual Director’s Community Leadership Award (DCLA).
Since 1990, the DCLA has been a principal means for the FBI to publicly recognize the achievements of individuals and organizations who make extraordinary contributions to crime and violence prevention and education in their communities.
“I am truly humbled to know that the FBI has chosen me to receive this year’s award for my efforts and leadership in the community to combat human trafficking,” said McClerklin-Motley. “When we held the first statewide conference on human trafficking at Coker College in 2013, I never knew that it would contribute to this honor.”
In addition to being an associate professor of social work, McClerklin-Motley is also an assistant coordinator for Coker College’s child welfare consortium program. She has been reappointed to serve an additional five-year term as a member of the Council on the Role and Status of Women in Social Work Education, which is part of the national nonprofit Council on Social Work Education and is responsible for the development of educational resources relevant to women’s issues within social work education. Earlier this year she was honored as Social Work Educator of the Year by the South Carolina chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.
“I do feel that Coker College is also a recipient of this award as well, and I am so grateful for the vision and leadership of our faculty and administrative staff,” said McClerklin-Motley. “Many thanks to Marsha Eide, Jennifer Rhodes, Tracy Parkinson and Robert Wyatt, all of whom were supportive and helpful of my efforts to have the first statewide anti-trafficking conference on this campus, and without whom this would not have been possible.”
McClerklin-Motley has been a member of the Coker faculty since 2000. She earned her master’s in social work and is a candidate for a doctorate in philosophy from Capella University where her dissertation research focuses on Domestic Sex Trafficking of Minors (DSTM).
For more information about the FBI Director’s Community Leadership Awards, please visit https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/partnerships_and_outreach/community_outreach/dcla.
Release written by Media Relations Coordinator Elizabeth Coxe Hubbard.
Coker College is a student-focused, private liberal arts college located in Hartsville, South Carolina. Coker combines round table, discussion-based learning with hands-on experiences to encourage active participation in and out of the classroom. A supportive, close-knit community prepares Coker students with the confidence and practical life skills they need to reach their personal best, in college and beyond.
Founded in 1908, Coker is a bachelor’s and master’s degree-granting institution and competes in 21 NCAA Division II sports. Coker is ranked among the “Best Colleges” in the South by U.S. News & World Report as well as The Princeton Review, and by Washington Monthly as No. 5 for value among colleges in the Southeast region.
