On Saturday, March 22nd, while many denizens of Stevens were munching on Pierce, a select group of female students were honored at the Women’s Programs Recognition Brunch taking place at Madison Bar & Grill in with an exquisite brunch, awards for achievements, and the support of women they barely knew existed here. Not often do so many talented women gather in one place.
The common theme of this ceremony was the ability of all awardees to balance taxing leadership positions and equally taxing academic schedules. Many recipients balanced multiple activities including at least one R.S.O. (Registered Student Organization) involvement and/or leadership, research and/or internships. Imagine remaining sane while founding/being the president of the American Chemical Society and acing Chemical Biology courses as Caitlyn Kulig did or running two organizations and being a senator as Sara Savoia has. It takes an extraordinary woman to manage all said stress gracefully and many of those at Stevens were honored on at said brunch.
First of the undergraduate awards given was the “Award for Academic Excellence”. As stated by host and co-organizer Kristie Damell, “This award honors undergraduate women at Stevens who have managed to balance their time both as scholars and leaders at Stevens. Women are eligible if they have a 3.8 GPA or higher, have contributed to the breadth of knowledge within their academic field, and are actively involved in service or leadership in the campus and the community. ” Common among this year’s recipients were the following factors: they are heavily involved in at least 3 extra-curricular activites (including mentoring and tutoring), they have a number of scholarships and outside awards, and quite a few have done research. For example, Quantitative Finance senior Alexandra Middleton served as Treasurer of Delta Phi Epsilon, a member of Gear and Triangle and Order of Omega as well as an ambassador of Quantitative Finance, a peer mentor and academic tutor while maintaining over a 3.8 GPA. Damell remarked that she has seen an increase this year in the number of recipients.
The “Service and Leadership Award” was presented next. In the words of co-organizer and presenter Nathalie Waite, “The outstanding women receiving this award are role models, leaders and changing agents. Their commitment to service and leadership has enhanced an entire campus community, inspired other women, and encouraged significant change at Stevens. “ All of the awardees received compliments from those who nominated them for the award commending them on their ability to time management skills, status as role models, organization skills, and major involvement on campus. One awardee, Neda Ameri, who is/was involved as the Head of the Entertainment Committee and Chair of the Stevens Undergraduate Programming Board was commended as determined, creative and dependable. In an interview with Assistant Dean of Students Kristie Damell, Damell commented, “I knew (Ameri) was someone to watch out for, someone who was going to be a leader on campus when we first met” . The final undergraduate award given was the “Women of Distinction Award”. In the words of presenter Damell, “This award is given to undergraduate women of distinction who distinguish themselves by positively impacting the experience of women at Stevens. They are actively involved in the Stevens Community in a number of areas from academics to Student Life….They embody characteristics of the Stevens woman past, present, and future. They are well rounded leaders and innovators whose contributions continue a strong legacy of women at Stevens. “ Awardees Bridgette Barden and Ashley Montufar both received glowing commendations on their achievements. Barden was lauded for being a leader in every task she undertook as well as taking initiative in both the classroom and extracirriculars, such as SWE. She is also a top athlete. Ashley Montufar, SGA President, was equally lauded for her accomplishments in bringing students and SFA (Student Faculty Alliance) together. Montufar is also known as “one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet”.
Graduate women were represented with the “Graduate Student women’s leadership award. This award was presented by Director of Graduate Affairs Nathalie Waite, “to the graduate student women who take leadership. What makes this heartwarming is that not only do our two recipients contribute to the community in valuable ways, but they do so exceeding a 3.8 GPA…” Although four recipients were announced, only two attended. Awardee Priyanka Srivastava served orientation leader, led the Graduate Enrichment Series, and before she attended Stevens she worked at BNP as a software engineer. The other recipient Chen Ling organized extracurricular activities for graduate students.
The Women’s Programming department sprung undergraduate senior Emily Heisler was sprung with a surprise award. Heisler coordinated Women’s Programming events while working as an employee for the Office of Student Life.
The number of female staff and students attending this event was small, no more than 50 attendees. The lack of female professors was mostly due to space and a tendency to invite only women in positions of power such as Deans. When asked about the cohesiveness of women in Stevens as a group, Waite noted a definite improvement. Damell noted that the number of women and men in leadership positions at Stevens has been fairly equal, in spite of lower overall female representation here. She also plugged the new program Student Life has for grooming leaders called “LEADS”. This program has two tracks: Emerging, in which freshmen and sophomores learn the meaning of leadership and Advanced, in which those who are already leaders learn how to improve upon contributing to campus.
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