Sociology Department Annual Awards Ceremony
Sociology Department Annual Awards Ceremony
On April 18, 2018, a lively crowd gathered in the Smith Center for Undergraduate Education, known as the “CUE,” for the department’s annual student recognition event.
This year, awards totaling nearly $50,000—more than in any previous year—were conferred to students for their extraordinary academic achievements and the promise of future accomplishments.
These awards, which are critical for helping both undergraduate and graduate students finance additional learning experiences, are the result of generosity from many different donors.
Scholarships from nine different funds were awarded to 13 undergraduates. These funds have been created over the course of many years by departmental alumni, former faculty and staff, and other friends of WSU Sociology. The criteria for awarding the various scholarships range primarily from academic excellence to financial need. Some scholarships emphasize extracurricular activities and community service. One scholarship is reserved for a first-generation student to attend college, and another aims to assist women students who are returning to college.
We greatly appreciate the diverse nature of these scholarships that encourage students to major in sociology and undertake careers associated with this area of study.
A total of 41 awards were given to graduate students with funding from 11 different sources. Many of these awards were created to honor former faculty members in Sociology— James, F. Short Jr., Joseph R. DeMartini, Paul Landis, and Fred Yoder, the first sociology faculty member at WSU. Another source of scholarships is the generosity of PhD alumni: Gordon Morgan, William Julius Wilson, Karen Jennison, and Kenneth Johnson.
Graduate awards have diverse purposes. Many of them are focused on investing in aspects of graduate training. The DeMartini awards are to support excellence in teaching and include travel to professional meetings to learn new teaching methods. The Karen Jennison and Kenneth Johnson Travel awards, available for the first time this year, are focused on supporting student participation in professional meetings, where students can develop their presentation skills as well as learn about the latest in sociological research and practice.
Other graduate awards support data collection for dissertation research that may cover a range of expenditures from the purchase of needed computer software to attending specific methods trainings to traveling to complete data collection, such as conducting interviews.
The most common feature of graduate student awards is their connection to undertaking the skill development necessary for becoming professional sociologists.
We greatly appreciate the many contributors who make it possible for all of our students to develop their sociological skills while at WSU.
Also recognized at this year’s awards event were 34 undergraduates scheduled to graduate this year, and four new initiates into Alpha Kappa Delta, the national sociology honor society.
This year’s award event came to an end as it always does, with presentation of the Graduate Student Advocate Award, named in honor of Louis N. Gray, a former faculty member known as a primary departmental voice for effectively meeting the needs of graduate students. This year’s award went to Tom Rotolo, whom every graduate student gets the chance to know when taking statistics and methodology courses that are a core emphasis of graduate education in Sociology at WSU.
2018 Undergraduate Student Awardees:
College of Arts & Sciences Outstanding Senior Award – Rebecca Ackerman
Exceptional Senior Scholarship – Hayley Garnick
Marjorie Talbott Tripp Scholarship – Lysandra Perez
John Wardwell Alumni Endowed Scholarship – Hayley Garnick
Roberta Cline Frazier Anderson Scholarship – Sheila Hobson, Jessica Mannard, and Mariana Ramirez
Norman & Linda Baer Scholarship – Anna Koback
Jeanne Jewett Scholarship – Kimberly Chapin, Elaine Quizon, and Camille Sessoms
Ruth Magnuson Roberts Scholarship – Baylie Kidd
2018 Graduate Student Awardees:
Minority Student Fellowship – Marisa Cervantes
James F. Short, Jr. Research Award – Alana Inlow and Adam Roth
Gordon D. and Izola P. Morgan Graduate Fellowship in Sociology – Megan Aust, Gina Castillo, Marisa Cervantes, and Morgan Montañez
Joseph R. DeMartini Excellence in Teaching Award – Eric Allen and Jake Hammond
Joseph R DeMartini Travel Grant – Eric Allen and Adam McKee
Susan & Sarah Dolan Memorial Scholarship – Gina Castillo, Ashley Colby, and Alana Inlow
Graduate School 2018 Dissertation Year Fellowship – Darcy Hauslik
Fred R. Yoder Memorial Graduate Fellowship in Sociology – Yikang Bai, Lindsey Beltz, Marisa Cervantes, Ashley Colby, Jonathan Dahlem, Brice Darras, Darcy Hauslik, Xiao Li, James McCall, Adam McKee, Christie Miksys, Sarah Morton, Kyle Rakowski, Namrata Ray, Aleksey Reshetnikov, Sadie Ridgeway, Adam Roth, and Lauren Scott
William Julius Wilson Summer Research Fellow – Adam Roth
Paul & Bessie Landis Scholarship – Aleksey Reshetnikov and Christopher Santucci
Karen Jennison & Kenneth Johnson Travel Award – Shannon Brenner, Gina Castillo, Marisa Cervantes, Alana Inlow, and Adam Roth
