By Alora Peters, Editor-in-Chief
On April 7, Saint Leo University celebrated its annual Academic Excellence Day to honor and recognize the achievements of students on university campus.
Classes followed a modified schedule to allow students and faculty the opportunity to attend student-led presentations during the afternoon. Students from different departments—including biology, education, religion, English, business, music, criminal justice, and art—were selected by professors to present stellar projects that had been completed in class earlier in the year. Presentations included senior seminar papers, research studies, and creative performances.
The highlight of the day, however, was the Award Ceremony, in which awards for academic excellence were presented to four students from each college.
Saint Leo students, faculty, staff, and family members gathered in the SCC Boardrooms in the evening, where—following an introductory blessing by university chaplain Fr. Randall Meissen—Dr. Jeffrey Senese, the university president, and Dr. Mary Spoto, the vice president of academic affairs, welcomed attendees and opened the ceremony.
Awards were presented in four different categories: the Excellence in Academic Leadership Award recognized a student who had demonstrated leadership that has had a positive impact on academic life and other students; the Excellence in Scholarship Award rewarded a student who had achieved excellence in scholarship, either through a research project and its findings or through an original creative work; the Excellence in Experiential Learning Award was presented to a student who had exceeded the expectations of performance within an internship or field placement; and the Dean’s Award for Excellence was given to a graduating senior who demonstrated overall academic excellence in all of the above categories and in community service.
Below are the winners for each college:
College of Education and Social Services
Excellence in Academic Leadership – Charisma Brown
Excellence in Scholarship – Christopher Feliciano
Excellence in Experiential Learning – Marisa Souchak
Dean’s Award for Excellence – Gabrielle Curiano
College of Arts and Sciences
Excellence in Academic Leadership – Alora Peters
Excellence in Scholarship – Karl Nyman
Excellence in Experiential Learning – Dallas O’Clair
Dean’s Award for Excellence – Kylie Culver
Donald R. Tapia College of Business
Excellence in Academic Leadership – Seanette Culmer
Excellence in Scholarship – Tayhana Taylor
Excellence in Experiential Learning – Evan Wray
Dean’s Award for Excellence – Victoria Budnar-Chapman
School of Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Data Science
Excellence in Academic Leadership – Naomi Nash
Excellence in Scholarship – Kristen Russell
Excellence in Experiential Learning – Therese Corkum
Dean’s Award for Excellence – Chrisalyn Junkert
Faculty members for each student briefly commended each student for his or her contributions to academic excellence at Saint Leo and highlighted some of the student’s accomplishments that merited reception of the award.
Students who had given outstanding presentations earlier during the day were also recognized during the ceremony, with Jade Evertsz—collaborating with faculty mentor Dr. Christopher Wolfe—taking home the first-place award for best academic poster, and Karl Nyman—collaborating with faculty mentor Dr. Sergiy Borysov—taking home the first-place award for best oral presentation.
Additionally, Academic Excellence Day commends the club or organization with the highest overall grade point average for that group’s collective dedication to academic excellence—this year, Alpha Phi Sigma—the Criminal Justice Honors society—received the honor.
A final award presented during the ceremony was the Clara McDonald Olson Scholastic Excellence Award, which recognizes a student who has studied for all four years at Saint Leo and has achieved a high GPA; this award was given to David Pacheco.
