Students honored at annual Leadership and Service Awards

Mount Holyoke College student and alum leaders gathered in Chapin Auditorium in celebration of the many contributions made to the community throughout the year.

Leadership comes in many forms, and on April 24, student leaders from across campus came together with staff, faculty and alums to celebrate their accomplishments throughout their time at Mount Holyoke.

The event commenced with remarks from President Danielle R. Holley, who discussed how various styles of leadership take form.

“Leadership is not formed in a vacuum. It is learned. Leadership is also a word we tend to hear a lot, and when we think of leaders, we tend to think of our most visible leaders,” she said. “People who are identified as heads of state, generals, CEOs and recognizable faces of various social movements. That might be your path, you might want to be one of those visible leaders, and if so, go for it and make yourself MoHome in the highest places! But for most of us as leaders, we are encountered in more regular life, leading through collaboration and compromise, leading by example. All of you who are here this evening are leaders. You are engaging in purposeful leadership with people who have a common purpose in order to achieve a vision.”

Marcella Runell, dean of students and vice president of student life, highlighted how the ceremony was a chance to celebrate the community that is at the heart of Mount Holyoke College.

“At Mount Holyoke in particular, we take our community very seriously, and this award ceremony is all about the student organizations, the student leaders, the ways that our community celebrates one another,” she said. “So it is really a celebration of the students and to thank them for all of the work that they do.”

Throughout the night, awards celebrating sustainability, social and global justice, residence life and more were presented to various students and alums. Below is a complete list of winners.

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This award is given to students with the highest grades in their class who ranked as Sarah Williston scholars during their sophomore or junior year.

Elanor Andrew-Vaughn ’24

Emily Barrera ’24

Brynna Bartoo ’24

Mai Bui ’24

Hayley Cline ’24

Darcy Coleman ’24

Amandine DeSimone ’24

Marjolaine DeSimone ’24

Samantha Estrada ’24

Nina Fulmer ’24

Wejie Gong ’24

Kathryn Greenblatt ’24

Grace Guan ’24

Anna McGrath ’24

Meaghan McKenna ’24

Lily Nemirovsky ’24

Hong Anh Nguyen ’24

Marie Nguyen ’24

Ngoc Anh Nguyen ’24

Calista Sperry ’24

Kathleen Strachota ’24

Culing Sun ’24

Saadia Tasneem ’24

Emma Waldron ’24

Yichu (Isabel) Xu ’24

Feifan Zhang ’24

Boxiao Zhu ’24

This award recognizes students who have demonstrated outstanding commitment to raising awareness on campus about critical global issues.

Jen Thornquest ’24

This award honors students who have demonstrated excellence in engaging the Mount Holyoke community on topics of sustainability and environmental justice and who have supported the Miller Worley Center’s mission to create a greener and more equitable world.

Eli Mancini ’24

Sarah Purvis ’24

Charlotte Cai ’24

This award honors students who have demonstrated leadership across campus, with a particular commitment to Weissman Center for Leadership activities and events.

Talya Denis ’24

Hilary Vergera ’24

Lauren Brook ’24

Emma Reid ’24

This award honors students who have demonstrated leadership across campus, with a particular commitment to Community-Based Learning activities and events.

Nina Fulmer ’24

Carson Law ’24

CBL Senior Recognition Community Fellow

Yaslyn Cruz ’24

CBL Senior Recognition Program Facilitators

Lubbi Angel ’24 
Ashley Marte ’24 
Orion Griesmer ’24

CBL Senior Recognition

Brielle Hunter ’24

Established in 1915 by the 1890 class of Mount Holyoke College, this award honors a student who has demonstrated commitment to promoting debate on campus.

Ainsley Morrison ’24

This award is conferred by the Alumnae Association to recent alums (graduated 15 years ago or less) who demonstrate exceptional promise or sustained achievement in their life, profession or community and whose work embodies the humane values that Mary Lyon exemplified in her life and inspired in others.

Violet Kupersmith ’11, Edward Algar Malenfant ’13

This award is presented to the resident assistant who best fulfilled the spirit as well as the letter of their position during the previous academic year. They have demonstrated excellence in programming, modeled care for others and built up their staff, building and campus community.

Ava Healy ’24

Tanisha Liang ’26

This award is presented to the residential fellow who has excelled in all areas of their position during the previous academic year. Their supervision skills, ability to handle difficult situations and the relationships they built among their staff and building have made them a role model to the Mount Holyoke community.

Serynn Nowlin ’25

This award is in recognition of their service and commitment to the Office of Residential Life throughout their time at the College.

Mackenzie Windus ’24

Inaugurated in 2022, this award is offered by the Religious and Spiritual Life program within the Office of Community and Belonging to a senior who has advanced interfaith leadership, literacy, community building and spiritual justice action during their college education.

Mia Gonzales Jackson ’26

Xi Stoddard ’24

Honorable Mention: Alice Bilodeau ’25

This award recognizes students who have positively influenced a program or organization from behind the scenes with a positive attitude, a willingness to help in whatever capacity necessary and a commitment to excellence. Eligible students cannot have served in an executive board position of a student organization, committee, class board and so on.

Sarahjeen Paul ’25

This award honors four students in their first or second year at the College who show leadership promise through their contributions to student life and community building. Their commitment can be seen in their involvement in campus committees, student organization, student government, class board, residential life or community service.

Diana Perez ’26

Elle Rood ’27

Michelle Kim ’27

Saturn Barnes ’27

Established by the family of Frances H. Williams ’19 in 1981, this award is presented to students who passionately pursue their goals of academic excellence, social justice or service to others.

Danyah Tarabulsi ’24

Fatou Barry ’24

This award was established in 1978 by Irma L. Rabbino ’53 to honor her father by recognizing students who have made a significant contribution to the life of Mount Holyoke College.

Anna McGrath ’24

Established in 1979 by Helen Warren Smith, class of 1908, this award honors a senior student whose interest, involvement and service to the Mount Holyoke College community have been outstanding.

Emily Mock ’24

This award honors students who have consistently given their time, energy and talents to promote positive change and growth in the Mount Holyoke community and, in so doing, have motivated others to do the same. These students will have demonstrated dedication and depth of experiences.

Sky Cho ’27

Marley Berano ’25

Giang Pham ’25

Dilawaiz Rao ’25

Anne Rizvi ’24

Darcy Coleman ’24

Hana Cho ’27

Cameron Wehner ’24

Shannon Breen ’24

Mackenzie Windus ’24

Suzy Kim ’25

Maggie Knee ’25

Sanskriti Giri ’26

This award honors recognized student organizations and their distinguished level of contribution to the MHC community through planned events and programs on campus. Student organizations that receive this award are recognized for their exceptional success in motivating and organizing fellow students to enhance campus life, as well as for their collaborative efforts with other organizations or departments to achieve objectives to improve student life. In addition to enriching the campus life, they have co-sponsored with other organizations or groups to bring together different facets of campus, thereby building and strengthening the campus community.

SGA Committee: Ways & Means, 2024 Class Board

This award recognizes the student organization that has done extraordinary work creating a diverse and inclusive community. It is presented by the MoZone social justice peer education program. The award honors a recognized student organization that has demonstrated a significant commitment to diversity and inclusion throughout the academic year.

Gender+

This award was established by the dean of students division in 2010 to recognize leaders who have done extraordinary work creating a diverse and inclusive community.

Kayla Scott-McDowell ’24

Maille Romulus ’24

This award celebrates leaders who have done extraordinary work in affirming identity, building community and cultivating leadership while at Mount Holyoke.

Sabina Miezah ’24

Shanthini Ragoonaden ’24

Sabina Miezah ’24

Participants in the Engage MHC program were also honored during the ceremony.

Grainne Beltramo-Dolan ’27

Emily Bisson ’27

Qianyue Chen ’27

Lila Hancock ’26

Michelle Kim ’27

Kim Kindred ’24

Athena Mandahar ’27

Ryanne McCann ’27

Kit Moore ’27

Prakriti Nepal ’27

Maya Ornston ’27

Emma Quirk ’26

Whitney Welch ‘27

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