Students, ranging from freshmen to seniors, sit impatiently on the Horseshoe while their friends and family watch one of the many end-of-year ceremonies recognizing academic excellence and leadership — today, it's University Awards Day.
“Well I am very fond of all of our students,” University President Harris Pastides said. “But some really go out of their way to excel either academically or in public service and to be here on hallowed Horseshoe on a beautiful day with friends and family around made it really special.”
Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa hosted the annual Awards Day on Thursday where students from a variety of colleges, departments and programs at USC were rewarded for years of hard work. Many of the awards recognized students who excelled in their chosen major, such as fourth-year international business and marketing student Brienne Okuda, recipient of the IB-Oxford Scholars Award.
“It’s a one-year scholarship to study in England for business majors with an interest outside of business,” Okuda said. “So I’ll be studying psychology while I’m there.”
Okuda was not the only student who received a scholarship award. The Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures awarded two female students the French Alumni Scholarship which helped with study abroad costs. Other scholarships were associated with financial need with academic excellence, such as the Bennet S. Masaschi Memorial Scholarship, and national fellowships and scholarships, such as the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
“Me specifically, I’m going to be going to the University of Pennsylvania, studying neuroscience there, so I’ve proposed the research I would be conducting during those next couple of years in graduate school,” said fourth-year developmental neuroscience student Mara Cowen, recipient of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.
Pastides and his wife sponsor the Harris Pastides and Patricia Moore-Pastides Sustainability Award. Scholarship, leadership and service/engagement are the primary elements of this award. The recipient falls under the School of the Earth, Ocean and Environment which aids the Office of Sustainability in the selection process. Third-year environmental science student Akilah Alwan is this year’s winner of the Pastides’ sponsored award and one recipient of the President’s Award.
“[It’s] crazy because I never thought I'd get this far,” Alwan said. “When I was a freshman, I won the University 101 scholarship and so it was kind of my goal as a freshman, I was like ‘I’m going to come to this award ceremony every year’ so to get to this point and win the President’s Award was like really full circle to me.”
The day’s most prestigious awards are the President’s Award, the Steven N. Swanger Leadership Award and the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award. Every Outstanding Senior Award winner is eligible to receive any of these honors. The Swanger Leadership Award was given to former student body president Ross Lordo and fourth-year political science student Nick Santamaria. They were both honored for their leadership and contribution to the Carolina community.
The Sullivan Award rewards the male and female seniors that are considered to be the most outstanding. This year’s recipients are fourth-year public health student Ryan Anderson and fourth-year finance, risk management and insurance student Emily Dunn.
“I was in disbelief,” Dunn said. “I had a little bit of a hunch during the ceremony after seeing my parents with reserved seats at the front when I got here, but I was still a little unsure, and of course in disbelief as well.”
Winners reflected on their hard work that it took to get them to where they are today. They were all firm believers in involvement and striving for excellence their entire lives.
“It has been hard at times,” Dunn said. “It has been overwhelming, but it has been absolutely nothing but rewarding.”