Contact: Karen Wentworth, , (505) 277-5627

 

April 9, 2004

UNM HONORS SENIORS FOR LEADERSHIP AND INVOLVEMENT

The University of New Mexico presents the 2004 Clauve Outstanding Senior Awards to six students on Thursday, April 15 at 7 p.m. in a ceremony at the Student Union Building ballroom. The awards will be presented as part of the UNM Recognition Reception.

This year's recipients are Jenny French, Fredrick James Efu-Awich, Jennifer Onuska, Amanda Sims, James (Trey) Smith, and Kwame-Rugunda. The Clauve Awards are given to UNM seniors who have at least a 3.0 cumulative grade point average. The award is based on leadership and involvement as well as academics.

Jenny French is a political science major who has served in various capacities on Panhellenic Council throughout her UNM career including president, secretary/treasurer and risk management chair. She has served the Alpha Chi Omega Sorority as chapter president, vice-president , and class representative. She is also involved with Associated Students of the University of New Mexico (ASUNM) and as a senator has served, elections commissioner, and finance chair. She is active with UNM boards and committees, working as a member of the Student Fee Review Board, a member of the Campus Safety and Security Committee, a member of the Library Committee and a member of the SUB Grand Opening Committee. She has also completed an internship with student activities as the Greek life representative.

Fredrick James Efu-Awich is a biology major who combines activism with academics. He is a member and honoree of Phi Beta Kappa, making both the Honor Roll and the Dean's List. He has received an Amigo International Scholarship and an Enterprise Scholarship, and is a tutor for athletics and the African-American Student Services Center . He was homecoming king in 2002, and is a founding member and secretary of Africa's Friends Reaching the International Community for Africa . A.F.R.I.C.A. reaches out to inform the campus community through discussions and movies about problems facing the African continent. Efu-Awich is also a founding member and parliamentarian of the first fraternity established for UNM's African-American students on campus, an elections commissioner for ASUNM, and representative to the joint faculty-senate Committee on International Affairs.

Jennifer Onuska is a political science major completing who puts her academic background into practice as she completes her second year as president of Associated Students of the University of New Mexico. She has initiated several new programs, including spring and fall campus clean-up events, and a special group to involve more students in community service. She is a member of the Chi Omega Sorority, and a member of the Trailblazers Student Alumni Association. She has served as a Rho Gamma recruitment counselor for the Panhellenic Council, and serves on a number of student government boards, including the Student Fee Review Board, the Planning Council, the Budget Subcommittee of the Planning Council and UNM Lobos for Legislation, a student lobbying group. She has received a number of academic scholarships including the New Mexico Lottery Success, Scholarship, the UNM Alumni Scholarship, the UNM General Honors Program Stipend, the Chi Omega Symphony Scholarship Award and is a Presidential Scholar. She has also participated in the UNM Honors Program.

Amanda Sims is majoring in criminology, and serves as the vice president of ASUNM. In this capacity, she presides over the student senate and is a voting member of the Student Fee Review Board. She has served in a variety of positions with the Pi Beta Phi Sorority, and as chair of the Panhellenic council, as well as a Rho Gamma recruitment guide, and as a member of the Trailblazers Student Alumni Association. She has served as a research assistant for the UNM Institute for Social Research, and done research on Crime Statistics and National Crime Prevention Programs, such as Project Safe Neighborhood. Sims has received the Manuel Lujan Excellence in Education Scholarship, and the Class of 1942 Memorial Alumni Scholarship. She has also been the UNM Greek Woman of the Year, and has received an Outstanding Senator Award from ASUNM. She is a member of the Order of Omega Honor Society.

James (Trey) Smith is an English major who has worked to give others a voice. He organized the UNM Speech and Debate Society when the Communications and Journalism department cut the speech and debate program. The society now hosts the largest high school speech and debate tournament in the state. He also chairs the UNM chapter of the Green Party, and was has recently been elected chair of the Bernalillo County Green Party. The College Greens are an active political group on campus. Smith serves as secretary for Students for Clean Energy, is a co-founder of the Albuquerque Student Alliance for Progress, and a member of the Honors Student Advisory Council, the UNM chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, and UNM-NARAL. He is the special events coordinator for the Student Union Building, where he works as a manager and serves as an undergraduate representative and secretary of the KUNM Radio Board. He has received the Manzano Faculty Scholarship, and volunteers as a speech coach for Manzano High School, where he was selected the 2003 New Mexico Speech Coach of the Year. In the UNM Honors Program he worked with Professor Dawn Stracener to develop a class on living eastern legacies and co-taught with her.

Kwame-Rugunda is an engineering major from Uganda . He is a co-founding member and the first president of A.F.R.I.C.A. He is also a member of the Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, the Copiera Club and the Study Abroad Committee. Rugunda has worked directly with the international studies program to initiate contact with African schools so that UNM can more successfully recruit international students. He mounted a campaign to raise funds for an African student at UNM who had lost his athletic scholarship so he could remain in school long enough to secure another scholarship. Rugunda is a math, physics and engineering tutor, and a member of the Kappa Mu Epilson Math Honor Society. He also works with the Good Shepherd home to assist in feeding the homeless community.

###

Comments to:
Public Affairs Department
MSC01 1170
Hodgin Hall, 2nd floor
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0011
Telephone: (505) 277-5813
Fax: (505) 277-1981