The Chacivity Award was created in 2004–2005. Its name is composed from “character, civility, and integrity.” This award is designed to recognize students who exhibit behavior(s) uplifting to the Indiana University of Pennsylvania community by displaying courage, civility, leadership, integrity, and initiative.
To date, 133 students have received the award, including the following:
2010 Spring Chacivity Award Winners
Terrance Molock
Alaisha Robinson
Zachary Stayman
Matthew Stephenson
Nominated by Mr. Tedd Cogar, Center for Student Life
For their volunteer work as judicial board members. These individuals have displayed a willingness to serve regardless of any recognition and are dutiful in carefully considering cases. All four individuals have served on at least eight judicial boards since October 2009 (twice the number of other board members).
Jocelyn Amevuvor
Nominated by Dr. Helen Sitler, English
As a student in Dr. Sitler’s ENGL 202: Research Writing course in Fall 2009, Jocelyn extended herself to assist an international student in the class. Because of this generosity of spirit (and her strong writing skills, as well), Dr. Sitler asked Jocelyn to serve as an instructional associate (through a three-credit internship) in her ENGL 202 class this Spring. Jocelyn’s gentle approach and suggestions have helped more than one student in her section do better on their papers. According to Dr. Sitler, Jocelyn’s intelligence makes her capable, but it is her generous nature that makes her an excellent peer mentor.
So Young Burke
Nominated by Dr. Yong Colen, Mathematics
So Young has been integrally involved as vice president of the Korean Student Association and organized the Unity Day events. She has been instrumental in the childrens’ music ministry at Korean United Methodist Church for the past seven years. According to Dr. Colen, she has devoted time and care in nurturing children’s desire to learn and make music.
Victoria Cox
Nominated by Ms. Marion Henry, Human Development and Environmental Studies
In Fall 2009, the Child Development and Family Relations Association’s project was to collect materials for the homeless shelter in Black Lick, Indiana County. Victoria collected donations from twenty-nine family members and used the money to purchase bed linens, pillows, towels, and wash cloths. With the assistance of two other students, Victoria took all of the donations to the shelter. According to Ms. Marion, overall the Child and Family Studies donated over $1200 in supplies, with Victoria’s contributions accounting for well over half.
Donovan Daniel
Nominated by: Ms. Julene Pinto-Dyczewski, Office of Housing and Residence Life
Donovan began the Hands for Haiti project on campus after learning of the devastation to that region. He took it upon himself to partner with the OHRL office to work within the halls to sell paper hands that were placed on a banner and displayed at the HUB. He raised over $400 for the cause. His energy and dedication initiated and kept the project on track. According to Julene, Donovan single-handedly organized the event and simply asked others to help sell the hands.
Cara Harper
Nominated by Dr. Frank Brooks, Spanish
Cara has graciously taken over coordinating the Spanish conversation opportunities on the IUP campus. She coordinates programs for Spanish majors and minors to practice the language. According to Dr. Brooks, this is a labor of love for Cara because she is so dedicated to improving not only her own proficiency in speaking Spanish, but also in assisting other students.
Rachel Harris
Nominated by Dr. Susan Zimny, Psychology
Rachel is a student in Dr. Zimny’s Psychology Research Design and Analysis II class. She has worked extremely hard and has demonstrated real mastery of the material. Her example has inspired others in class to master difficult material as well. Rachel regularly and voluntarily tutors other students who are still struggling learning the material. Her thoughtful questions and desire to understand has encouraged others to adopt her productive approach. According to Dr. Zimny, Rachel has given of herself and her time to other students in the class and her fellow students have benefited from her efforts.
Maria Kaminski
Nominated by Dr. Joann Migyanka, Special Education and Clinical Services
Maria works tirelessly to raise awareness, support others, and influence policy on Von Hippel-Lindau. She presents to physicians, nurses, hospitals, and other groups and lends support to families. According to Dr. Migyanka, Maria attends the university full time, works multiple jobs, and extends what little time she has remaining in her busy schedule to her many causes focusing on children and adults with disabilities.
Samantha Kiernan
Nominated by Dr. Sarah Wheeler, Political Science
Samantha served as an officer of both Amnesty International and Model United Nations. She has been instrumental in planning programs. Samantha is also the vice president of Students Opting for Alcohol and Drug-Free Residence. Through this role, Samantha helped organize Crimson Huddle during Homecoming. According to peer Heather Weleski, Samantha is a behind-the-scenes individual who always offers to help and never asks for recognition.
Chelsea Reichrath
Nominated by Ms. Nichole Fest, Office of Housing and Residence Life, and Ms. Michelle Smiley, Student
Chelsea is a community assistant on the Punxsutawney campus. She was instrumental in making Valentine’s Day cards and candy roses for a retirement community in Punxsutawney. Chelsea has volunteered to help with all of the orientations at Punxsutawney, giving tours to prospective students and speaking highly of the campus. According to Nichole and Michelle, Chelsea has portrayed outstanding leadership skills on the campus and is also very dedicated to her job.
Ashley Rossi
Nominated by Dr. Cora Sherburne, Psychology
Ashley served as a Salvation Army Arc of Learning tutor, where she provided tutoring in all core fields of study to students in K-12 grades. She served as a volunteer note taker at IUP. She has transcribed music scores into files usable by visually impaired musicians. She has also volunteered for the Indiana County Workshop–Vocational Services, where she assisted individuals with a wide range of physical and mental disabilities develop vocational skills. According to Dr. Sherburne, Ashley is a role model for all IUP students, and her volunteer work is exceptional.
Martin Sagendorf
Nominated by Ms. Julene Pinto-Dyczewski, Office of Housing and Residence Life, and Mr. Adam Prescott, Office of Student Conduct
Martin served as site leader for the Alternative Spring Break trip to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. He serves as vice president for Professional Development in the Associates for Student Development organization through the Student Affairs in Higher Education program. He has used his university connections to promote and recruit for a volunteer program called Building New Hope, “...an organization that buys coffee beans above fair trade price from a Nicaraguan farming cooperative and uses the profits to fund projects such as a veterinary service and library in Nicaragua.” According to Adam, the global scope of Martin’s volunteering impacts those around him, and his charisma instills a passion for volunteering in everyone he encounters.
Elizabeth Solomonides
Nominated by Dr. Sarah Wheeler, Political Science, and Mr. Tedd Cogar, Center for Student Life
Beth has participated in the Alternative Spring Break program for three years. She is heavily involved on the Academic Strategic Planning Committee as a student senator and in the Student Government Association. As an officer in Model United Nations, she was instrumental in coordinating student participation in the Model UN. Additionally, Beth has served as a judicial board member more than eight times this academic year. According to Tedd and Dr. Wheeler, Beth’s leadership in various organizations on campus will truly be missed when she graduates in May.
John Stoughton
Nominated by Mr. Tedd Cogar, Center for Student Life, and Ms. Amber Prichard, student
John is a valuable asset to the judicial board, serving more than ten times since he joined in October 2009. He served as an orientation leader, and volunteered over forty hours to plan and facilitate academic and social programming that took place during Welcome Weekend 2009. John helped facilitate the Pre-Game in the Oak Grove Festival during Homecoming. According to Amber, John has been instrumental in helping her transition to IUP. John has helped her register for classes, learn time management skills, and has been a huge asset since she met him on move-in day.
Craig Uss
Nominated by Mr. Ian Reynolds, OHRL
Craig is a community assistant in the Northern Suites. His programming has raised community awareness on subjects such as racism, white privilege, free speech, creating a diverse tomorrow, and many more. He has made great efforts to aid fellow staff members in achieving their own goals as well. According to Ian, Craig has a big heart and an open mind that allow him to continue his thirst for knowledge while maintaining a compassion for those with whom he is working.
Jon Yuhas
Nominated by Mr. Rick Kutz, Center for Student Life
Jon is president for the IUP Cycling Club. For the past nine months, he has been working with IUP, Indiana Borough, White Township, PennDot, and USA Cycling to establish the “Crimson Crit” series of cycling races at IUP. As an example of his leadership, Jon has researched this project among other schools (Penn State, Pitt) and continued professional communication with multiple offices throughout the university (University Police, Student Cooperative Association, Center for Student Life). According to Rick, Jon’s commitment to this endeavor shows great character and resilience.
Eric Zarzeczny
Nominated by Ms. Vanessa Gregorakis, Office of Service Learning
Eric Zarzeczny is a nursing student at IUP. Eric developed a program called Save a Life 101. The program is a free information session for students on donating blood, which includes benefits, purpose, procedure, risks, requirements, etc. Eric held this program three times in the Spring 2010 semester. He worked with the African American Cultural Center for a February blood drive—its focus was on sickle cell awareness. According to Vanessa, Eric plans to implement this program throughout his career at IUP and hopes to debunk myths and ease peoples’ fears of donating blood.
2009 Fall Chacivity Award Winners
Amy Devlin
Holly Griffith
Rhema Lewis
Brittany Peles
Nominated by Dr. Rosalee Stilwell, English
For their work as founding members of the Crimson Hawks for Haiti, a new student-faculty service organization on campus. Their first annual project was “Shoes for Haiti,” where they collected shoes to donate to youth in Haiti. For this project, twenty public schools and twenty churches from a three-county area contributed a total of over one thousand pairs of new and gently-used shoes and $350 in cash donations. The shoes literally packed Dr. Stilwell’s office to the ceiling while they awaited arrangements to get them shipped. Then, IUP student Charles Gray, president of the IUP student organization Men of Victory, along with Dr. Roger Briscoe (advisor), organized a big Men of Victory caravan to get all the shoes to the distribution point at Goodwill Industries, where the shoes have started their journey to Haiti. It was noted that each woman contributed over fifty hours of service during the Fall semester for this project.
Deirdre Fago
Nominated by Dr. Cora Sherburne, Psychology
During the summer of 2009, Deirdre completed an unpaid internship at Big Brothers and Big Sisters in Altoona, Pa., and helped with fundraising events such as “Bowl for Kids’ Sake” and a small golf tournament. According to Dr. Sherburne, Dede’s service to the community is truly exceptional. She manages to do all she does and be an excellent student as well.
Kayla Fatula
Nominated by Dr. Lisa Hammett Price, Special Education and Clinical Services
Kayla was the secretary of IUP’s chapter of the National Student Speech-Language-Hearing Association where she assisted in making literacy book bags for Make a Difference Day. She spends time visiting with older residents of a local personal care home. Her work consistently goes above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that the children for whom she provides speech-language intervention get all that they need. According to Dr. Price, she consulted with the other faculty members in the Special Education and Clinical Services program and there was a unanimous agreement that Kayla exemplifies the traits the Chacivity Award recognizes.
Emily Kubler
Nominated by Mr. Martin Sagendorf, Office of Housing and Residence Life
Emily is a residential peer mentor in the Suites on Maple West and has been an active participant in the Education Living and Learning (LL) community. She has attended the Education LL meetings for the entire year, and goes well beyond the requirements of her position by contacting professors about programs and coming to meetings prepared with a list of new ideas to improve the LL community. According to Martin, Emily is equally as active as the professional staff and faculty members who attend these meetings, all of whom are constantly impressed with her dedication to LL at IUP.
Derek Lambert
Nominated by Dr. B. Gail Wilson, Communications Media
Derek worked as the student station manager of WIUP-FM, for which he was responsible for the supervision of 100 student volunteers. He helped other students with a variety of projects that are beyond his own classroom responsibilities and is known as the “Go-to Guy.” According to Dr. Wilson, Derek is well-known and much-admired in the Communications Media Department by both faculty members and students.
Shi Li
Nominated by Ms. Jessica Strawn Dories, Office of International Education (OIE)
Li has gone beyond expectations in his duties as one of the OIE’s student workers. He assists many current and new international students into the wee hours of the morning with rides to and from the airport, helping fix their computers, and settle into life at IUP. Li assisted a China exchange group (thirty-five students last year and ninety students this year) by serving as a translator to their group leader. According to Jessica, Li readily gives his time to assist their office with programming that is outside his work hours.
Elizabeth Proctor
Nominated by Dr. Diane Klein, Special Education and Clinical Services
Liz has spent an uncountable number of hours volunteering for public school reading programs and the Special Olympics. She is president of Sign In (deaf education club) and was responsible for the organization and production of a weekend sign language show, and she is vice president of Future Educators of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students and is responsible for all programming for the club. According to Dr. Klein, Liz she also finds time to mentor underclassmen in the major and offers to tutor students who need assistance, and Liz is the epitome of what the Chacivity Award is all about and is very deserving of this honor.
Haley Schmidt
Nominated by Ms. Sara Lawer, Office of Alumni Relations
Haley has worked with the KidsRead program during Fall 2009 and served as a leader for the Pittsburgh Project. During this project, she worked with middle-school students, helping them with projects in the local communities: doing repairs such as painting, roofs, insulation, yard work, and drywall. She volunteers in West Virginia for Servants Hearts, and for the last four summers she spent time completing construction work on local homes. Haley spent winter break in Mexico at the Caring Hearts Orphanage running youth programs at night and repairing homes during the day. According to Sara, Haley is one of the most selfless students she knows. She doesn’t volunteer for the glory, but rather to help grow both emotionally and spiritually.
