Scholarship Ceremony Celebrates Culture of Care
By Sophie Hauck
Content
Photos by Robert Skinner
Commonwealth Honors College celebrated a culture of care and philanthropy on Saturday, October 29 during the annual Donor Appreciation & Scholarship Awards Ceremony, when scholarship donors gathered to recognize student awardees.
The Honors College awarded hundreds of scholarships made possible by the generosity of donors supporting the Honors College mission. Donors visited campus on Homecoming Weekend, attending the ceremony to deliver the awards and meet scholarship recipients.
“Philanthropy at its heart, love of mankind… embodies a culture of care,” Dean Mari Castañeda said while opening the ceremony. “I am so pleased that we get to celebrate its impact with all of you here today.”
Dean Castañeda invited sophomore psychology major Sam Cadwell to speak on behalf of scholarship winners. Cadwell received the Christian M. Flynn Memorial Scholarship and said that before receiving the award, he discussed with a friend “how fruitless success can feel.”
“If I score high on an exam, or boost my GPA, I mean, that's great, but what does it really mean?” Cadwell asked. “Sure it propels me forward, but where am I really going?”
When Cadwell received the scholarship, he recognized there were “people rooting for me, people who see me.”
"It reminded me that my work isn't ignored, but it fits into a greater hope." — Sam Cadwell
Mike Flynn `88 established the Christian M. Flynn Memorial Scholarship and met with Cadwell before the ceremony to learn about his interest in psychology.
Like many Honors scholarships, establishing the Christian M. Flynn Memorial Scholarship was a family affair.
“My brother, who was also a graduate, died. He was a psychiatrist, but he also suffered from mental health issues, and they eventually took his life,” Flynn said. “Once my wife and I decided we wanted to give something back in this way, we felt like it’d be wonderful to also support my brother’s memory that way.”
Flynn encouraged prospective donors to partner with their family to contribute to a scholarship, saying “you don’t have to be crazy wealthy to be able to do this.”
"I’m not from a family of significant means, it was very difficult for me to pay for school. I always felt that if there was an opportunity to give back to somebody who found themselves in a similar situation, that that would be the right thing to do." — Mike Flynn
Investments like Flynn’s make a lasting impact on students. George Olisedeme-Akpu described the ceremony as “one of the most rewarding experiences”, and recalled the excitement he felt when hearing he received an award from the John B.’s Ephemeral Fund for Honors Students.
“I was beyond shocked because it was just a regular day going to class and everything, and the next thing you know, this email comes, and I’m just like, ‘Wait did I read that right?’” said Olisdedeme-Akpu, a junior mechanical engineering major.
“The engineering curriculum, the Honors curriculum, the I.T. curriculum, you’re making so many tough decisions, with so much uncertainty,” he added.“Events like these make you feel like you did something right, and I feel like it makes a huge difference, and I’m grateful for it.”
The generosity of donors was not lost on Francesca De Mora Ocaña, who won the Tina Brown-Stevenson and Harry C. Stevenson Diverse Healthcare Scholars Award and enjoyed spending time with scholarship cofounder Tina Brown-Stevenson.
“It was really nice to get to see the people that gave us a lot of blessings,” De Mora Ocaña said after meeting with Brown-Stevenson, discussing her professional goals and discovering a shared love of cooking. “It was very nice to put not just a face to the name, but also a person.”
De Mora Ocaña, a senior biology major, said she hopes to carry forward the Stevensons’ kindness as she moves forward in her career.
“This culture of sharing, being generous is going to create a full cycle of giving,” De Mora Ocaña said. “Thinking of a bigger purpose, not just yourself.”
The Honors scholarship application cycle opens on December 15, 2022 and closes on February 26, 2023. Students should apply via the campus scholarship portal, AcademicWorks.
Photos from the Ceremony
