Shorter receives award for collegiate recreation professionals

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Dexter Shorter, associate director of Campus Recreation, has been recognized as a 2021 NIRSA award recipient. NIRSA, the international association for collegiate recreation professionals, supports the learning and growth of students by fostering lifelong habits of well-being.

Shorter was recognized as the Region 1 Horace Moody Award recipient, representing the Northeast region of the United States, which comprises more than 100 universities. Based on nominations from students in collegiate recreation, the Moody Award recognizes staff who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to student development. 

Shorter joined Penn State in July 2018 and quickly made a positive impact on campus, said Laura Hall, senior director of Campus Recreation.

“Dexter consistently sets the standard in Campus Recreation for what it means to be wholly committed to serving to our students with excellence,” said Hall. “He works incredibly hard, genuinely cares about developing our students and the professional staff he supervises in a holistic sense, and he represents the department in a positive manner day each and every day. Dexter authentically wants to be a difference-maker in our students’ college experiences, and I am thrilled that the students who nominated Dexter value him just as all of us in Campus Rec and Student Affairs do, too.”  

Hailing from Southern University, Horace Moody was one of 20 Historically Black Colleges and Universities intramural directors to gather for the first conference in 1950 and also is recognized as a founder of NIRSA. 

“It is a distinct honor to be one of the recipients of the Horace Moody Award this year,” said Shorter.  “I am grateful to be able to broadly represent the impactful things that we are doing at Penn State. What the award represents definitely means a lot to me. Certainly, we are able to create extraordinary student experiences because of the broad support we are fortunate to have. Please allow this accomplishment to be a reflection of our commitment to student development and the dedication of leaders on our campus who are modeling the way in transforming the lives of the people that we serve.”

A full list of NIRSA’s 2021 honorees can be found here.