Skip to Student Leadership Programs site navigationSkip to main content

Student Leadership Awards

                   

Overview: 

The Annual Student Leadership Award Reception is a night of recognizing and awarding Ramapo College’s outstanding student leaders. The 2024 Awards that will be presented will be the Pillars Award (for Seniors), the Jerome Lee Memorial Award for Outstanding Leadership (for Seniors), and the Award for Outstanding Leadership (for all class years). Read their descriptions below or apply here for this year’s awards!

Apply for the 2024 Student Leadership Awards

Applications open February 5, 2024 and close March 4, 2024 at 11:59 pm. The Awards Reception will be held on May 2, 2024 – details to come.

Award Descriptions: 

Award for Outstanding Leadership

Award for Outstanding Leadership (up to 20 leaders total may be selected for this award, approximately 4-5 per class year): This award is for students who demonstrate exceptional campus leadership. Awards will be selected by class year (First-Year Student, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior)  for RCNJ campus involvement, academics, and leadership.

The Jerome Lee Memorial Award for Outstanding Leadership

Jerome Lee Memorial Award for Outstanding Leadership (up to 3 leaders will be selected for this award): The Jerome Lee Memorial Award for Outstanding Leadership is named in honor of the Director of the Student Center who died in 1995. Jerome Lee valued high ethical and moral standards and gladly extended his capacity for human love to all those with whom he came in contact. Applicants for the Jerome Lee Memorial Award should demonstrate in their work within the co-curriculum leadership through grace, human kindness, and the art of gentle persuasion—all traits which characterized Jerome’s work. To be eligible students must be seniors with a graduation application on file for January 2024, May 2024 or plan to graduate August 2024.

The Pillars Award

The Pillars Award (up to 3 leaders will be selected for this award): This prestigious award honors those senior student leaders who have demonstrated over the course of their career at Ramapo College outstanding leadership, a strong commitment to the mission of the College, and dedication to fostering a positive and inclusive living and learning environment. The recipient should be considered by others to be the product and embodiment of the four Ramapo pillars of interdisciplinary curriculum, international education, intercultural understanding and experiential learning.  To be eligible students must be seniors with a graduation application on file for January 2024, May 2024, or plan to graduate August 2024. The criteria for consideration are as follows:

  • Outstanding contributions to the quality of campus life through sustained participation in co-curricular activities and/or programs.
  • Improvements in the college community through initiation of services or programs which support the college’s mission and strategic plan.
  • Distinctive service to the student body through exceptional performance in an established position, whereby the manner in which the duties of that office were discharged have a substantial impact on the quality of student life and campus climate.
  • Performance, leadership, communication, and commitment that reflects the ideals of the four pillars of Ramapo which may be viewed here: ramapo.edu/about/mission/

Eligibility:

Award recipients will be selected based upon RCNJ campus involvement in leadership activities, including, but not limited to:

  • Student Government Association
  • Clubs/Organizations/ Sororities/ Fraternities
  • Honor/ Professional Societies
  • Community Service/ Activism
  • Residence Hall Involvement
  • Serving as a Peer Facilitator/Tutor/Mentor
  • Athletics

In order to be considered for an award, a student must:

  • Be currently enrolled as an undergraduate student (or a January 2024 graduate).
  • Maintain a 2.5 Cumulative GPA and be in good judicial standing at the College. Academic and disciplinary histories will be reviewed and may affect award decisions

Applications for the 2024 Student Leadership Awards will open during the Spring 2024 semester.

For more information please email the Student Leadership team: leaders@ramapo.edu

Congratulations to all of the 2023 Student Leadership Award winners!

2023 Award Recipients:

Award for Outstanding Leadership

Outstanding Leadership by a First-Year Student

Bibhu Bhatta
Desireee Bounds
Kyle Desuza
Daniel Rajakumar
Abigail Rojas
Evelyn Voisekhovich

Outstanding Leadership by a Sophomore Student

Avery Cangro
Nikita Hanover
Patricia Kalaidjian
Lauren Lisojo
Victor Oluwagbemi
Nadelin Reyes Rodriguez
Alexa Vasquez 

Outstanding Leadership by a Junior Student

Rola Aly
Niki Bajracharya
Caroline Clarke
Allison Contreras
Joshua De Castro
Alyssa Jackler
Maya Peacock

Outstanding Leadership by a Senior Student

Bridget Cahill
Joshua Caggiano
Vernice Harewood
Emily Melvin
Gillian Miller
Matthew Pluzsik
Sophia Vogel

Tori Waschek

Jerome Lee Memorial Award for Outstanding Leadership

 

Samuel Calabrese
Ashley Gomez
Mattison Indomenico
Dawn Sy

The Pillars Award

Paolo Miyashiro Bedoya
Samantha Jones
Janea Tozer- Murphy