UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Charles Dumas, professor emeritus in the School of Theatre at Penn State, will receive the 2022 Lion’s Paw Medal during the society’s 2022 Convocation Ceremony. The ceremony will take place over Blue-White Weekend, on April 23.
Lion’s Paw is an honor society that seeks to promote the welfare and perpetuate the traditions of Penn State. Since 1965, the society has awarded its Lion’s Paw Medal annually to recognize individuals who have gone above and beyond in terms of their service to Penn State.
“The Lion’s Paw Medal is the sole award granted by Lion’s Paw, annually. In the ecosystem of awards at Penn State, the Lion’s Paw Medal stands alone in its focus to recognize an individual’s service, above and beyond the norm, to the University and its students,” said Rebecca Friese Rodskog, a 1993 Penn State alumna who serves as chair of the Lion’s Paw Medal Committee.
Lion’s Paw named Dumas, the first African American to serve as a full tenured professor in the School of Theatre, as the 2022 recipient of the medal due to his continued commitment to the Penn State community and beyond, consistently demonstrating the values of Lion’s Paw through his lifetime of work dedicated to social justice and equity.
“Professor Dumas’ accomplishments and acts of service are difficult to summarize. He is a teacher, professional writer, director, actor and lifetime political activist. Above all, he is a community and University leader. Charles has spent a lifetime working toward social justice for all. I can’t imagine a more deserving medal recipient,” said Doug Uhazie, and 2017 Penn State alumnus and president of the Lion’s Paw Alumni Association.
Dumas came to Penn State as a guest professor in 1995. One of his main motivations in accepting the position was that he wanted to work on the issues of racial justice and equality. He believed that this position would help him spread this awareness among students.
Dumas has acted in, directed or written more than 300 plays, films and commercials. He received an Emmy Award for his ensemble work in "Separate but Equal" with Sidney Poitier. He received a fellowship for playwriting from the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts. He was honored as best actor by the Hollywood/Beverly Hills NAACP for his work in "B.C. Historia."
As a writer, Dumas produces a weekly column, “Under the Baobab,” which appears in the Centre Daily Times. He has published three books: "Nontraditional Casting," "Under the Baobab," and "I, too, am an African." He and his wife of 50 years, Jo Dumas, worked on a memoir about their life together in the movement.
In the community, Dumas was the 2012 Democratic Party candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. He was the first chairperson of the State College Borough Human Relations Commission. He also served on the borough’s Planning Commission and MLK Plaza Committee. He is past president of the Yale Club of Central Pennsylvania and the United Nations Association of Centre County. He is a lifetime member of the NAACP and one of the original members of Community & Campus in Unity.
Dumas is extremely involved in the lives of his students, with an emphasis on diversity action. He is known for going above and beyond for his current and former students during his tenure at Penn State and after retirement. He has been a model for students on campus and in town for civic responsibility.
In 2009, Charles and Jo Dumas took their commitment to the students one step further by establishing a scholarship — the Frances Foster Award in Theatre at Penn State — in memory of the late actress Frances Foster. The scholarship’s purpose is “to honor and recognize outstanding achievement by undergraduate students who excel scholastically and artistically and whose ethnic and/or cultural background enhance the diversity of the School of Theatre.”
Additional information about Lion’s Paw and the award can be found at www.lionspaw.org.