Upcoming Mesa Community College student awards ceremonies
Mesa Community College will honor students who have shown exemplary leadership and academic dedication with two separate award presentations on April 25 and May 4 at the Southern and Dobson campus.
This year’s events will include the return of awards for students of the Red Mountain campus, along with the Southern and Dobson campus hosting the very first award presentation to recognize students who have shown exceptional leadership across MCC classes and extracurricular clubs.
Here’s a guide to see the presentations and find out what students were nominated. There will be free activities and food at each event.
- “Thundership Leadership Awards”
Where: MCC’s Southern and Dobson campus, in the Navajo room
When: Tuesday, April 25, 2023, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
The Student Life and Leadership department at the Southern and Dobson campus has created unique awards which honor beyond just a student’s academic achievements, and focuses on those who have demonstrated care for their community by becoming leaders in either their classroom environments, or in campus clubs.
Both the “Thundership Leadership Awards” and MCC club specific awards will be given out at the event on April 25.
All students nominated will be recognized even if they are not presented with an award. Francis Canedo, dean of arts, humanities, and social sciences at MCC, along with Julie Voller, MCC senior associate vice president of academic affairs, will be in attendance to personally celebrate the student’s recognition.
Nominators are encouraged to attend the event to personally present their recognition to the student, in an effort to engage with the community and celebrate the relationships created at MCC.
The event will also have food and games in addition to the award presentation.
Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to participate in the event’s “1970s Groovy theme”, with the best dressed attendee to receive a prize for their outfit.
Erick Tanchez Jr., a program specialist at MCC’s Student Life, was responsible for the idea of the leadership award, citing what he saw as a lack of award recognition for the finer elements of community service within MCC student leaders.
Tanchez noted a specific group of soon to be recognized MCC club leaders who “wanted to be the leaders of this club since they were in high school, and now that they are in it, they breathe life back into the club and they have flourished [as club leaders], that’s what I live for [with my job]” said Tanchez.
Tanchez credits his fellow student life colleagues, Carol Webb, Allison Nguyen, Beth Ann Wright, and Andre Sanchez for helping establish the concept of the “Thunderbird Leadership Awards” at the Southern and Dobson campus.
Following the event, students will have access to a program book that features student photos and a quote from their nominator.
You can RSVP for the event here.
- The “Academic Honors and Achievement Awards” and the “Red Mountain Summit Awards”
Where: MCC’s Southern and Dobson campus, in the Navajo room
When: Thursday, May 4, 2023, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The awards ceremony will combine three student awards across both MCC campuses, with faculty and staff to honor both student academic excellence, and student leadership with the return of the “Red Mountain Summit Awards”.
The ceremony will honor all those nominated even if they aren’t presented an award.
The “Academic Honors and Achievement Awards” ceremony will honor four different experience leveled MCC students, and will include the separate “Excellence Award” and “Academic Achievement Award”, both honoring two specific student achievements related to academic and learning performance, according to a post announcing the event. The “Academic Achievement Award will include one student in their first year of college.
Also featured during the ceremony will be the return of the “Red Mountain Summit Awards” after a hiatus due to the pandemic, offering students an opportunity to be nominated for exceptional leadership and personality qualities that lie outside of academic honors.
Each award recipient will be given a certificate honoring their recognition, along with a small gift that can be picked up the week of May 1.
The event will feature a garden theme, with food and entertainment to be provided for attendees.
