First Luis Clay Mendez Distinguished Service Award Goes to Long-Time Friend
Dec-15-2004 
David Carpenter's pleasure over being named the first recipient of the Luis Clay Mendez Distinguished Service Award has been somewhat overshadowed by grief.
"I'm honored, obviously," he said. "But I really miss my friend."
Carpenter will receive the Luis Clay Mendez Distinguished Service Award during Eastern's 10 a.m. commencement ceremony Saturday, Dec. 18.
Sixty-year-old Mendez, a former Eastern Illinois University professor of Spanish, died of a heart ailment in October 2003. Less than two months later, friends and colleagues voted to establish an annual service award that would honor Mendez' memory. The award honors the person(s) who best exemplifies Mendez' dedication by his/her service to the university, profession and community at the local, national and/or international level.
In addition to his teaching, Mendez served as secretary of Eastern's Faculty Senate, and as faculty sponsor of Sigma Delta Pi. He also developed B.E.S.T. (Basic Emergency Spanish Training), a program designed for the U.S. Coast Guard.
In her letter of nomination, Penelope J. Clay, Mendez' wife, wrote that "there could not be a more deserving recipient for the award than David Carpenter."
Extensive service on Carpenter's part was a consideration, she wrote. But, also, "Luis himself admired David's service record and had spoken on (Carpenter's) behalf to nominate him on more than one occasion in the area of service.
"David's service record during almost two decades at EIU has been extraordinary," she added.
Jeffrey Lynch, associate dean of Eastern's College of Arts and Humanities, echoed Clay's sentiments.
"I write to support with enthusiasm Mrs. Penny Clay's nomination of David Carpenter for the inaugural Luis Clay Mendez Distinguished Service Award," Lynch wrote. "I know that Penny has nominated David for two compelling reasons: David was Luis' closest personal friend at Eastern and David's service record at Eastern has been second to none. He is richly deserving of the award for both personal and professional reasons."
Lynch continued, "From department to university to community service, (Carpenter) has given of his time and boundless energy not for personal aggrandizement but because he sees it as a necessary expression of good campus citizenship. Indeed, rarely does a campus our size feel the impact of one individual as much as we have felt his.
"David's many and substantive contributions as a campus leader, his tireless advocacy of shared governance and faculty rights, of a more diffused decision-making process, and his insistence on the maintenance of academic standards of excellence and integrity have combined to make him one of the most important voices in Eastern's community."
Since coming to Eastern in 1986, Carpenter has been awarded five Achievement and Contribution Awards for service to the university, and, in 2002, he was awarded a Distinguished Faculty Award for his teaching, research/creative activity and service since coming to Eastern.
Having served for a decade on Eastern's Faculty Senate, Carpenter is currently serving in his fourth term as chairperson of the senate. In addition, Carpenter has served on the Council of University Planning and Budget for eight years and Eastern's Honors Council for three years. Also, for the past three years, he has served as the grievance officer for the University Professionals of Illinois, and he has served for numerous years as a legislative delegate in the UPI House of Delegates.
In almost two decades of employment at Eastern, Carpenter has served on more than 30 departmental and university committees, as well as having served community programs such as Meals on Wheels and Habitat for Humanity.
