Celebrating Undergraduate Achievement

January 29, 2016

The annual Political Science Undergraduate Awards, which recognize exceptional students (2014 – 2015) took place this week with students, parents, faculty and donors in attendance.

Presided over by Associate Chair and Undergraduate Director Rodney Haddow, the awards were presented to the students by the Chair Louis Pauly. Asked why these awards matter, Haddow commented on how fortunate the department is to have such a high calibre of students. “Our department is privileged to host many outstanding students in its undergraduate courses. We are a friendly community but, like the St. George campus as a whole, our department is large. It is therefore vitally important to us that these students have a chance to receive the recognition that they so richly deserve for their excellent work. These awards afford us the opportunity to do this each year. It is especially pleasant that recipients’ families and friends are often able to attend the event; their highly justified pride is always quite evident. Our donors play an indispensable role; their generosity is what makes the ceremony possible, and their attendance is very welcome.”

In total, eighteen awards were handed out to twenty four students, with five picking up two or more academic nods. Graduate Amani Sithara Rauff, who is currently a first-year at the Faculty of Law pursuing a Juris Doctor was delighted. “These awards mean a lot to me because they’re helping me reduce my debt, which will ultimately allow me to pursue a career based on my interests and passions rather than on financial constraints. I think it’s incredibly generous of people like Mr. White and Mr. and Mrs. Goodman and their friends to support students in this way, and I hope to be able to do the same one day.”

The complete list of award winners is Illia Maslyanskyy, Victoria Wicks, Sasha Boutilier, Anthony Iafrate, Michael Cleveland, Benjamin Nadav Goldlist, Dawn Walker, Angelin Oey, Colby Alexander Chubbs, Jonah Isaac Goldberg, Mahan Azimi, Nancy Xue, Amani Sithara Rauff, Amy Tieu, Cristin Hunt, Maria Alexiou, Delia Cristina Luca and Shirin Shahidi.

Donors present this year included Brian J. White, Anne Dupré, Donald G.M. Coxe and Ronald Deibert.