The College of New Rochelle Announces Student Serviam Award Recipients

Related Media

Michael Williams, School of New Resources; Nancy Burroughs, Graduate School; President Judith Huntington; Suzanne Mariano, School of Nursing; Akosuah Agyei, School of Arts & Sciences.

NEW ROCHELLE, NY (10/28/2011)(readMedia)-- During The College of New Rochelle's (CNR) Founder's Day celebration on October 27, 2011, four CNR students were presented with Serviam Awards for outstanding community service. Established by the Ursuline Institute and continued by the College, the annual awards honor those students who best embody the Ursuline philosophy of Serviam (I will serve) and support the College's mission of education for service.

In presenting the awards, Vice President for Mission & Identity Dr. Joan E. Bailey said, "Today's recipients join previous Serviam Award recipients by exemplifying the Gospel call to help those in need: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, sheltering the stranger, clothing the naked, visiting the imprisoned and the sick. It is by service to those in need that humanity will find the road to Peace."

This year's recipients are:

Graduate School: Nancy Burroughs

Nancy Burroughs is a student in the Guidance and Counseling Program of the Graduate School. She provides bible instruction to adults and children and has done training for adults to become chaplains in community agencies. She has organized community services to help men and women obtain a smooth transition from incarceration back into society. Collecting and providing coats for the homeless and school supplies to students, she also supports various neighborhood programs including after school programs. She has led seminars on domestic violence and personal issues both in the United States and in the Bahamas.

School of New Resources: Michael Williams

Michael Williams is a senior at the DC-37 Campus of the School of New Resources. His nominator says of him that his "spirit of giving effects and impacts his peers, professors, and all of us who work at the campus... an unassuming leader and role model, Michael is blessed with the voice of an angel." He says his personal motto is, "If you have been encouraged, encourage someone else". He supports fellow students in study groups and tutoring. He has provided service to the East NY, Brooklyn community as a volunteer HIV/AIDS counselor. He shares his considerable gifts in productions for the St. Paul Community Baptist Church, where he participates annually in productions designed to uplift and encourage the local and the faith community, and he pays service to the global community by participating in a festival of divinely inspired music from around the world. He is a member of the gospel group, The Branch Company, a member of the Praise Team, and the Gospel Music Workshop of America.

School of Nursing: Suzanne Mariano

Now a senior in the School of Nursing, Suzanne Mariano decided in middle school to pursue a career in nursing and throughout high school she volunteered at her local hospital. When she came to The College of New Rochelle to follow her dream of becoming a nurse, she became active in campus ministry, participating in Midnight Runs to the homeless in New York City, and in 2009 she participated in the "plunge" to New Orleans where she helped rebuild houses which had been devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. She participated in a second plunge with campus ministry to Ecuador, where she worked at a healthcare facility designed for patients with Hansen's disease (also known as leprosy). She currently serves as the president of the Student Nurses Association and as an ambassador student chosen to represent the nursing students of The College of New Rochelle at Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honors Society meetings. She says she plans on "making contributions not only to local populations but to the global community as well."

School of Arts & Sciences: Akosuah Agyei

Akosuah Agyei is a senior in the School of Arts and Sciences majoring in biology and Chemistry. Akosuah was in Ghana last year where she spent some of her time volunteering at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra. She worked in the unit educating and preparing women with obstetric fistula for surgery. Learning that most women in Ghana are so poor that they cannot afford the cost of the surgery, Akosuah has embarked on a fundraiser mission through Model United Nations to help these women. She also traveled to Swedro, a village in the Central Region of Ghana to distribute to needy children used clothing, shoes and school supplies (which she and her mother had collected here in the US).

She also serves as a Youth Advisor for Tryon Campus, a prison for juveniles, where she tries to encourage the young adults to modify their behavior so that they will be able to function well in society. She serves her home church community as one of the organizers of a youth group which raises funds and visits the sick.

At the College she is active in the Gospel Choir and as a peer minister where she has helped coordinate midnight runs, Habitat for Humanity builds, the Hunger Banquet, visits to senior centers, and other activities run by Campus Ministry. She attended the Plunge to West Virginia helping to set up a camp for young girls between the ages of 9 and 11. She has also volunteered at the Emergency Department at Albany Medical Center. Her career goal is to serve the global community as a doctor.

As a Resident Assistant (RA) in Brescia Hall, Akos organized African Heritage Day on March 31, 2011 where she educated her audience about the culture, traditional clothing, food, and music of Africa and provided traditional African food for the enjoyment of those invited. Akos has initiated various projects such as making Valentine Day's cards to distribute to the residents of Willow Towers and has promoted recycling among the Residence Halls as the student representative to the Environmental Committee.