Orange Alert

Arts and Sciences students sweep 2012 individual Chancellor's awards for community engagement

Six students receive individual Chancellor's Citations

April 5, 2012, by Judy Holmes

2012 Chancellor's Award for Public Engagement celebration master of ceremony
2012 Chancellor's Award for Public Engagement celebration master of ceremony
All six of the students who received Syracuse University’s 2012 individual Chancellor’s Citations during the 2012 Chancellor’s Award for Public Engagement and Scholarship (CAPES) ceremony on March 26 are enrolled in The College of Arts and Sciences.  Additionally, College of Arts and Sciences students received the 2012 First-Year Leadership award and an honorable mention for an award recognizing an outstanding Resident Advisor.

The CAPES awards are presented annually to SU students, faculty, and staff who exemplify the University’s commitment to engagement with the community and Scholarship in Action during a celebratory dinner in the Hildegarde and J. Myer Schine Student Center’s Goldstein Auditorium.

The College of Arts and Sciences students who received individual recognitions are:

Chancellor’s Citations
These awards represent the highest ideals of the CAPES Awards—significant, long-term participation in active learning and citizenship through pubic and community service, and providing leadership and a strong personal commitment to regenerating and sustaining community.

Brittany Braithwaite, a senior majoring in women’s and gender studies and a pre-med student: Braithwaite is deeply engaged in organizations that provide programing on teen pregnancy prevention and education. She serves as a health advocate for Planned Parenthood, on the SU Student Health Advisory Council, and on the Onondaga County Comprehensive Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Advisory Board. She founded SPEAK—Speak Positively by Educating Adolescents about Konsciousness—which sponsored annual, daylong forums on sexuality and identity for teen girls, and “Personal as Political,” a weekly, self-esteem building program for teen girls held at the Warehouse during the 2011-12 academic year.

John Cardone, a senior double major in English and textual studies in The College and in sculpture in the College of Visual and Performing Arts: Cardone worked with a third-grade class at Blodgett School in Syracuse to “sculpt” a community. He founded the English as a Second Language Tutoring Program at Nottingham High School, has served as coordinator of the homework club at the Center for New Americans, and is coordinator of the Mobile Art Literacy Bus. 

Michael Hu, a junior biochemistry major: Hu is president of the SU chapter of Learn to Be, a national foundation that enriches the lives of children in underserved communities through free online tutoring and academic resources. This year, the chapter partnered with the Say Yes Collegiate Prep Academy to deliver online academic enrichment materials to Syracuse high school students.

Benjamin Kuebrich, a Ph.D. student in composition and cultural rhetoric in the Writing Program: Kuebrich led a two-week intensive training program for undergraduate students on community organizing, which culminated in a two-day workshop for 25 community organizations. He was instrumental in bringing to fruition the book, I Witness: Perspectives on Policing in the Near Westside, published by the Gifford Street Community Press, a grassroots organization. He also worked closely with the Gifford Street Community Press and the Westside Residents Coalition to establish mission statements and governing boards.

Rachel LeQuire, a senior international relations and sociology major: LeQuire traveled worldwide to study and work with nongovernmental organizations and learn about farming and preservation. She served as coordinator of the Center for New Americans and helped launch a pilot, tutoring program that serves recent refugees and immigrants. She also tutored in the Nottingham English as a Second Language Tutoring Program and at the Breakfast Club at Levy Middle School.

Jonathan Nwosu, a senior majoring in international relations: A recipient of the 2011 Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship, Nwosu helped spearhead the Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection. He has worked in the Above and Beyond Program, Say Yes to Education, the Boys and Girls Club, and the High School Diplomats program.

2012 First-Year Leadership Award
Ronald James-Terry Taylor, a freshman majoring in chemistry, policy studies, and political science: Taylor is a Coronat Scholar and is active in the Cold Case Justice Initiative in the College of Law, the Nottingham English as a Second Language Tutoring Program, and he started the Cultural Project Rejuvenation Mentorship Program at the Wilson Park Community Center in Syracuse.

2012 Resident Advisor Award
Honorable mention was presented to Victoria Seager, a sophomore majoring in policy studies. Seager volunteers with SU Literacy Corps and consistently looks for ways to connect her experience as an RA in Sadler Hall with her Literacy Corps experiences.

Media Contact

Judy Holmes