To see more photos of our winners, click here.
JaiCe Stinton ’18
At the halftime of each home basketball game, a person or group from within the Siena community is honored with the Siena College Award for Excellence. This award recognizes its honorees for achievements and service.
The award winners for the 17-18 season were:
Shelby Wadsworth
She was honored for organizing a birthday party for Siena’s 80th birthday party. Shelby decided to put her organizing skills to work creating a celebration that would allow students to unwind after a week of classes while honoring Siena’s Franciscan heritage. Her passion and dedication to the Siena community is why she was honored.
AT&T/Siena College Upstander Program
AT&T/Siena College Upstander Program and its ambassadors were recognized for working alongside Siena College Research Institute to combat social media bullying in New York high schools. Currently, 22 Saints who were trained as Upstanders are traveling around the state visiting schools and empowering teens to stand up against cyberbullying. Their work in our community and around the state is why they are all being honored.
Rachel Jones, Phil Isaacson, and Geoff Brewer
Rachel Jones, “Siena Fresh” Director of Operations, along with two Siena Fresh employees, Phil Isaacson and Geoff Brewer, were honored for their work in making Siena’s community a more inclusive environment. Rachel was honored with the National Disability Employment Awareness Month award for her extra efforts to foster success for employees with disabilities. Siena was highlighted as one of five employers, state-wide, for its commitment to inclusivity, and promoting employees with developmental disabilities. We honored them for striving to keep Siena a welcoming and diverse community.
Mr. Siena Organization
Newly crowned Mr. Siena, his fellow seven contestants, and the six co-chairs were honored because of their dedication to make this another successful fundraiser. This year, our hard-working group of Saints raised over $3,500 to benefit Habitat for Humanity. We honored and congratulated Adam Villanueva for being crowned “Mr. Siena” and the other contestants who spent lots of time preparing for this event.
Eclipse Watch Team
Two faculty members, George Hassel and Darren Broder, from the Physics department were honored for their work to provide an “out of this world” event that gave 500 community members a once in a generation view of the solar eclipse. Their expertise ensured that everyone got a chance to observe the first total eclipse visible in the United States in 38 years and that is why they were honored.
Matt Bellis, Jamie Bedard, Maddy Hagen, and Clare Reilly
Siena Professor Matt Bellis, and students Jamie Bedard, Maddy Hagen and Clare Reilly were honored for their physics research and presentations in national and international venues. They won Most Educational and Best in Show awards for their work and that is why they were honored.
Tom Ruhl
Tom Ruhl was honored for his work as a Bonner Service Leader and a member of the National Bonner Foundation Advisory Board, one of only 10 students from across the country to serve in this capacity. He helped plan workshops for Bonner Congress which welcomed about 150 Bonner students from every corner of the country this past fall at Siena College. Tom is an outstanding student leader who goes above and beyond in his dedication to serving others and that is why he was honored.
Liam Rice
Liam Rice was honored for his dedication to build a company in the United States to help a community in Africa. Liam has worked to build his own clothing line, Summit Clothing Company, out of his family’s home and partners with The Giving Circle to improve the lives of deaf and disabled children in a boarding school in Uganda. We honored Liam Rice for founding a company based on the principle of making the lives of others better.
Patrick Talbert
Patrick Talbert was honored for his work as a driving force on Siena’s campus by serving as Delta Sigma Pi’s chapter president and organizing events to benefit the community through Siena’s annual Dress for Success sale and fashion show. He also fundraised and served as trip leader to bring Saints to international communities such as Jamaica and Nicaragua, to build homes, and tutor children. Patrick has served the Siena, Capital Region and international community with great pride and that is why he was honored.
Shelby Davis
Shelby Davis was honored for her research on foreign policy and counterterrorism. As a summer scholar with the Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity at Siena, she collaborated on an assessment of the national security strategy of President Donald Trump in critical war hotspots. Shelby was welcomed at the at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington, D.C where she served as a counterterrorism research intern. Shelby has a bright future ahead of her and that is why we honored her.
Janet Shideler
Janet Shideler, professor of modern language, was honored because of her research and enthusiasm that she has for preserving rich cultural heritages. She has received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of their Common Heritage program. Her project is called “Je me souviens (I Remember): Presenting and Preserving the Heritage of Upstate New York’s Franco-American Communities.” We honored her for her academic work and for organizing the French-Canadian history event which merited an NEH grant.
Jen Sloan
Jen Sloan, the associate director of admissions, was honored for her work to help make a Siena degree more accessible to Capital Region students through innovative articulation agreements with three area community colleges. She has also helped enhance and expedite the transfer registration process at Siena, so accepted students can register for the classes they desire just hours after being admitted. We honored her for all the work and effort she put in to make Siena’s campus more welcoming community.
