By Payton Calati
On Thursday, March 21 Student Life hosted the Student Leadership Awards Ceremony recognizing students for their outstanding leadership and scholarly contributions during the 2022-23 academic year.
Ashley Fox, Student Life and Conduct Assistant Director, welcomed everyone who came to the event and introduced keynote speaker, Mary Baker, a current student at Grand Rapids Community College, who spoke about the theme of celebrating uniqueness and how that has impacted her as a college student.
Baker said she feels proud of her accomplishment of finishing her third attempt at her freshman year which she spoke about during her presentation and feels like she couldn’t have done it without her peers.
“I’m really proud of myself,” Baker said. “It was like a long time coming but I couldn’t have done it without The Collegiate. I wrote for The Collegiate, and it was an amazing experience and I couldn’t have done it without you guys. It was really nice to have peers to encourage me and to keep (me) going,” Baker said.
Baker said she was honored to be asked to deliver the keynote address at Thursday’s event.
“I was so excited because I’ve been practicing it and preparing for something and I was just excited when they asked me,” Baker said. “I’m really grateful for that. I felt like I had something to share with my peers.”
Michael Zazzo, one of the award winners of the Cedric and Sandy Ward Leadership was shocked that he won.
“I’m kind of just more in shock than anything else…I put a lot of work into being part of the Student Government and being a leader is really important,” Zazzo said. “….When you think about leadership and responsibility, sometimes it’s not the people who seek it out who do the best. It’s the people who are trusted into it.”
Brayden Smith, one of the award winners of the Richard W. Calkins Presidential Leadership and part of the Student Organization of the Year award, appreciates everyone on his team and Student Life for letting him take on the leadership role of Campus Activities Board (CAB).
“I appreciate everyone in Student Life and everyone on my team…I know we worked hard on all the events this year,” Smith said.
Dave Damien, award winner of Dr, Martin Luther King Jr., feels like this award encourages him to continue to help others and do more for them in the future.
“This means a lot because it shows that I’ve been doing something very great, which means I can say that this is my passion,” Damien said. “I’m helping others in any way I can, so this leadership makes me look like a beacon in the black community and encourages me to do more, because there’s many years to come.”
Fox closed the night with a small video montage of memories that had been collected throughout the year.
Here are this year’s recipients:
Student Leadership Awards
- Presented by Ashley Fox
- Spencer Caldwell- Brian Kloet Campus Involvement
- Devin Boehm- Benham Service and Civic Engagement
- Dave Damien- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
- Joel Reyes Hernandez and Michael Zazzo- Cedric and Sandy Ward Leadership.
- Ashpreet Kaur and Brayden Smith- Richard W. Calkins Presidential Leadership
- Presented by Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood
- Blace Carpenter- Student Journalist of the Year
- Presented by Mike Schavey
- Tara Huskey- Honors Program Student Leadership
- Presented by Kevin Dobreff
- Katelynn Sikkenga- Emerging Music Student Leadership
- Malachi Giese- Distinguished Music Student Leadership
Department Awards
- Presented by Keaton Krupa
- LaSheree (Lala) Pinder- Exceptional Student Scholarship
- Present by Nancy Forrest
- Crisanta Morales Aguilon- 2023-2024 Math Perseverance MA 15-MA 107
- Rodney Brown- 2023-2024 Math Perseverance MA 108-MA 259
- Benjamin Lambright- Outstanding Mathematics Student 2023-2024
- Presented by Emily Kliner
- Thuy Hoang- Biology Student of the Year
- Presented by Tari Mattox
- Mercedes Byrne- Geology Student of the Year
- Benjamin Elkins- Physics Student of the Year.
- Presented by Jesse Crandall
- Agustin Manzanares- Chemistry Student of the Year
- Zulekha Alemayehu- Astronomy Student of the Year
- Presented by Sheena Weaver
- Chiquita Clay- Jerry Benham Award for Student Organization Advisor
- Campus Activities Board- Student Organization of the Year
- Black Africana Student Union for the Black History Month Programming- Project, Event or Program of the Year
- A.R.T.S club also known as the “the artistically rambunctious and theatrical shenanigans club” according to the event presentation- New Student Organization of the Year
Collegiate reporters Lindsey Soet and James Herold contributed to this story.
