By Alora Peters, Editor-in-Chief
On March 30, Saint Leo University hosted its annual Celebration of Academic Excellence to showcase the academic achievements of its students from across a variety of disciplines and fields of study.
A modified class schedule in the morning was proceeded by an afternoon dedicated to showcasing students’ projects, oral presentations, academic posters, artwork and photography, and musical and theatrical performances.
The afternoon’s exhibition culminated in an award ceremony, in which four students from each college – the College of Arts and Sciences, the Donald R. Tapia College of Business, the College of Education and Social Services, and the School of Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Data Science – were honored in a different category of academic excellence.
The ceremony – hosted on University Campus in the SCC Boardrooms – began with opening remarks from Lucas Nocera, the interim director of University Ministry, Dr. Ed Dadez, university president, and Dr. Mary Spoto, the vice president for academic affairs, all of which were followed by the presentation of each award.
The awardees for each college are as follows:
College of Education and Social Services
Excellence in Academic Leadership Award – Gannon Key
Excellence in Scholarship Award – Megan Rowe
Excellence in Experiential Learning Award – Julia Ruggiero
Dean’s Award for Excellence – Vanessa Navarro
College of Arts and Sciences
Excellence in Academic Leadership Award – Alora Peters
Excellence in Scholarship Award – Jessaca Bristol
Excellence in Experiential Learning Award – Rafael Soto
Dean’s Award for Excellence – Hannah Evers
Donald R. Tapia College of Business
Excellence in Academic Leadership Award: Nina Michelangelo
Excellence in Scholarship Award: Tayhana Taylor
Excellence in Experiential Learning Award – Tayhana Taylor
Dean’s Award for Excellence – Seanette Culmer
School of Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Data Science
Excellence in Academic Leadership Award – William (Rob) Bryan
Excellence in Scholarship Award – Pia Perthen
Excellence in Experiential Learning – Oriana Carey
Dean’s Award for Excellence – Courtney Gray
The Excellence in Academic Leadership Award denotes a student who demonstrates leadership that has had a positive impact on academic life and other students.
The Excellence in Scholarship Award honors a student who has achieved excellence in scholarship, either through a research project and its findings or through an original creative work.
The Excellence in Experiential Learning Award is given to a student who exceeds the expectations of performance within an internship or field placement.
Finally, the Dean’s Award for Excellence is awarded to an exemplary graduating senior who has demonstrated excellence in all of the above categories, as well as in community service.
Faculty members introduced each of the awardees and spotlighted some of each student’s accomplishments and contributions to academic excellence within the Saint Leo community.
Additionally, during the ceremony, the Clara McDonald Olson Scholastic Excellence Award, which commends a student who has studied for all four years at Saint Leo and has achieved a high GPA, was awarded to Angelica Molina.
An award was also presented to the Entrepreneurship Club, for successfully achieving the highest collective grade point average for a student club or organization.
Finally, students who delivered exceptional presentations during the afternoon’s sessions also received recognition – Helen Huynh and faculty mentor Dr. Tammy Zacchilli earned awards for the best academic poster, while Hugo Sheehan and faculty mentor Dr. Sergiy Borysov earned awards for best oral presentation.
Students, faculty, staff, and families were all in attendance for the day’s celebrations. Saint Leo looks forward to continuing to invite members of the community to honor exceptional scholarship and achievements. Notably, Saint Leo will be hosting an inaugural Research Symposium on April 1. Graduating students will also be honored during the fast-approaching 2023 commencement ceremonies, taking place on May 12, May 13, and June 9.
