Late ORU Professor To Receive Compassionate Service Award

A late ORU professor is being honored with an award on Monday for her lifetime of service. It is called the Compassionate Service Award, a new award given to Tulsans.

Dr. Sherri Tapp is the first recipient of the award.

Friends and colleagues of Dr. Sherri Tapp say she is deserving of this award because of how she always went out of her way to help others.

The Compassionate Tulsa Committee was established back in 2015 as part of the Human Rights Commission of Tulsa.

Dr. Tapp was a professor at ORU and colleagues say she was loved by her students.

Dr. Tapp passed away last year.

Dr. Andrea Walker was a friend of Dr. Tapp's. She says it was Dr. Tapp's idea to start handing out awards and couldn't think of a better namesake.

"So it was her idea to actually start presenting awards to notify people, or to make it known, of the compassionate action that people are engaging in that actually really make our community better," said Walker.

Vicky Langston, the chair of the Compassionate Tulsa Committee, says they are hoping to recognize people for helping others who might not otherwise get the recognition they deserve.

“Tulsa has many compassionate people, and some get recognized and some don’t, and that’s not why they do compassionate acts. But we want to have a chance to recognize unsung heroes,” said Langston.

Dr. Tapp's award will be given to her family on Friday at 3:30 p.m.

The Compassionate Tulsa Committee says it will begin handing out service awards monthly.

You can nominate someone you know at CompassionateTulsa.com.