St. Kate’s Honors and Awards Ceremony Celebrates Students
On Tuesday April 30, St. Catherine University hosted its 2019 Honors and Awards ceremony. This is an opportunity for St. Kate’s students to honor the academic and leadership achievements of their peers and – as many attendees commented – to enjoy some pretty good hors d’oeuvre. While Honors and Awards is a wonderful opportunity to recognize outstanding St. Kate’s students, some elements of this year’s ceremony raised questions about representation. .
The 2019 Honors and Awards ceremony opened with a prayer by Director of the Center for Spirituality and Social Justice Sharon Howell, CSJ. After an introductory performance by St. Kate’s Femme Vocale, President Becky Roloff shared a welcome. In her opening address, President Roloff stated that the awards given at the Honors and Awards ceremony are not just for scholarship. “These awards are about recognizing when someone needs a helping hand and caring about the advancement of those around you,” said President Roloff
President Roloff focused on the legacy that the All-University Awards imply. Most of the awards are named for significant figures in St. Kate’s history, and with this comes the responsibility of honoring their memory. “You’re all on the journey to become the most excellent, most skilled, most wise person you can be,” said President Roloff
The All-University Student Leadership Award recipients are not the only students to be recognized at the Honors and Awards Ceremony. The Bonnie Jean Kelly and Joan Kelly awards for excellence in scholarly writing are also recognized (Taylor Gentz and Baomi Phung), along with the Antonian Honors senior honors project award recipients (Bryn Rouse and Ashley Wilke.) The Honors and Awards ceremony is also an opportunity for inductees to honors societies, namely Phi Beta Kappa, to be announced. Inductees into Phi Beta Kappa honor society this year were notably majority white. Minority inductees expressed concern and feelings of alienation due to this disparity.
Maakwe Cumanzala was the recipient of two prestigious awards: the Mary E. McCahill Memorial Award and the Helen B. Lemmer Award in Honor of Mother Antonia McHugh. The Mary E. McCahill Memorial Award was established in 1959 by Eugene McCahill in honor of his mother, who was a friend of the first Dean and President of St. Kate’s, Mother Antonia McHugh. The Helen B. Lemmer Award in Honor of Mother Antonia McHugh was established by the St. Kate’s chapter of the Association of University Professors and is meant to go to a senior who intends to pursue a career in college or university teaching.
The Dean of Students Award went to Baomi Phung, who has made an outstanding contribution to the accomplishment of the university’s mission during her time at St. Kate’s. The Mary Alice Muellerleile Student Leadership Award, which recognizes a College for Adults Bachelor’s student that has demonstrated outstanding leadership and service to their peers at St. Kate’s was presented to Rusty Rose-Dixon. The Michael J. Baynes Reflective Life Award, which is presented to a student in the associate degree program, was given to AnnaRose Williams. Finally, the Thomas More Award, which is presented to students in any program or class who have made a significant contribution to a particular organization, department, program, or issue, or have contributed to a broad range of activities was presented to 18 students. The award went to Zaynab Abdi, Fatumastar Adan, Maren Adler, Elizabeth Allen, Kapono Asuncion, Rita Kristine Berrnardo, Mira Bronstein, Emily Carman, Kyra Christopherson, Andrea Duarte-Alonso, Ladan Hadafow, Elizabeth Kula, Briana Middleton, Ruth Rike, Katelyn Rising, Ariana Schniderhan, Anna Schrupp, and Peace Sinyigaya. Although awarded to some students of color, the uneven racial distribution of the award recipients was pronounced.
An anonymous recipient of the Thomas More award commented:
“It’s always cool to be recognized, but even receiving the award feels less prestigious or credible when almost all the faces on that stage were white, and I know that some nominees of color have worked harder and contributed more to the university than I have.”
Although the Honors and Awards ceremony is an important way to celebrate the achievements of students, continuing racial inequality puts into conversation enduring disparities that exist in the way that St. Kate’s recognizes students.
In a time of institutional change, it is evident that administrators are receptive to student feedback on our identity as a university. In the legacy of Mother Antonia McHugh, the Honors and Awards ceremony offers room for growth and development in empowering marginalized communities, especially students of color at St. Kate’s. We must continue to have conversations regarding representations as we strive for an increasingly inclusive recognition of students from diverse backgrounds during award ceremonies.
