Five Students Honored with SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence

April 5, 2016

Five members of the Hudson Valley Community College student body were named recipients of the State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence. 

The recipients are: Taylar Delisle of Mechanicville; Josiah Dillon of Ballston Spa; Brody O’Connor of Ballston Spa; Erika Pelletier of Berlin; and Erica Shudt of Melrose. 

Delisle, who is studying in the Liberal Arts and Science: Humanities and Social Science program, is president and captain of the Cheerleading and Pep Squad Club and has actively worked to promote student involvement in campus events. She has twice been named to the President’s List, which notes students who have a term grade point average above 3.5. Outside of campus, she is an assistant coach for Watervliet Pop Warner and has volunteered for several charities, including Avery’s Angels, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, a sexual violence awareness campaign. 

Dillon, a Business Administration major, is president of the Investment Club, treasurer of the Student Senate and a member of the college’s Foundation board of directors. A member of the Phi Theta Kappa academic honor society, he has twice been named to the President’s List, which notes students who have a term grade point average above 3.5. As president of the Investment Club he helps lead strategy for a $10,000 portfolio. 

O’Connor is studying in the Business Administration program. He is the president of the Entrepreneur’s Club and also serves as the student representative to the college’s Board of Trustees. Brody also serves as secretary to the Student Senate and is very active in student affairs. He has been named to the President’s List for three semesters and is a member of Phi Theta Kappa academic honor society. He serves as a peer tutor in the college’s Learning Assistance Center, helping fellow students with coursework in accounting, economics and business law. Outside the classroom, Brody serves as an AARP tax aide, volunteering to help low income families file their tax returns. 

Pelletier, who is studying in the Early Childhood program, shows outstanding academic achievement as well as a strong commitment to leadership in student activities. Last fall, she was named a Coca Cola Bronze Scholar and was one of a handful of students chosen to be Coca Cola Leaders of Promise by the Coca Cola Scholars Foundation and Phi Theta Kappa, the academic honor society. She has four times been named to the President’s List and is a member of Phi Theta Kappa. Outside the classroom, she has been president of the Early Childhood Club, chairperson of the Student Senate’s community service committee, a freshman senator, orientation leader, and a member of the Tour Guide Club and the Cheerleading and Pep Squad. 

Shudt, who is studying in the Liberal Arts and Science: Humanities and Social Science program, is vice president of the Psychology Club and captain of the women’s basketball team. A member of Phi Theta Kappa, the academic honor society, she has been named to the President’s List, which notes students who have a term grade point average above 3.5, for each of her four semester at the college. She serves as a tutor through the college’s Collegiate Academic Support Program (CASP) and serves as an assistant coach for the Uncle Sam Lady Hoopsters AAU basketball team. 

The five students were invited to attend the 2016 Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence ceremony and reception, which will take place on Tuesday, April 5, 2016 from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany.

The Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence was created 19 years ago to recognize students who have best demonstrated, and been recognized for, the integration of academic excellence with accomplishments in the areas of leadership, athletics, community service, creative and performing arts or career achievement. 

Each year, campus presidents establish a selection committee, which reviews exemplary members of their college communities who are graduating. Nominees are then forwarded to the Chancellor’s Office and are subject to a second round of review. Finalists are then recommended to the Chancellor to become recipients of the Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence. 

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Founded in 1953, Hudson Valley Community College offers more than 80 degree and certificate programs in four schools: Business; Engineering and Industrial Technologies; Health Science; and Liberal Arts and Sciences; and an Educational Opportunity Center for academic and career training. One of 30 community colleges in the State University of New York system, it has an enrollment of nearly 12,000 students, and is known as a leader in distance learning initiatives and workforce training. Hudson Valley has more than 75,000 alumni.