Five Students Receive SUNY Chancellor’s Award

April 24, 2020

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, one of the highest student honors awarded by the SUNY system.

The recipients are Omsalama Ayoub, a Biological Sciences student from Albany; Tajae Edwards, a Business Administration student from Kingstown, Jamaica; Kayla Mumtaz, a Liberal Arts student from Troy; Jewel Winant, a Theater Arts student from West Sand Lake; and Jesse Yetto, a Physical Education Studies student from Pittstown.

Omsalama Ayoub has a 3.6 GPA and is a member of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society (PTK); she also serves as vice president of transfer and scholarships for the college’s PTK chapter. She has served as Freshman class senator; a junior editor, staff writer, and business manager for the Hudsonian; a student representative on the college’s Board of Trustees and student trustee on the Foundation Board of Directors; and a student representative for the college safety committee. In 2019 she was named to the Third All-American NJCAA team for academic excellence as a member of the Women’s Golf team. Ayoub has been named to the President’s List each semester since she started at Hudson Valley.

Tajae Edwards has a 4.0 GPA, is a member of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society, and is the secretary of the Student Senate. He is also a student representative for the college judicial system’s Ethics and Planning Committee; a student board member on the Faculty Student Association Board of Directors; a student member of the Faculty Student Association Financial Planning Committee; and vice president of the Black and Latino Student Union. He is a member of the Men’s Track and Field team and a student worker for Student Activities and the Educational Opportunity Program. He is also a peer tutor and a campus navigator, and contributes articles for the Hudsonian.

Kayla Mumtaz has a 3.7 GPA and is a member of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society. She is the current president and former secretary of the Black and Latino Student Union. She won the Departmental Award for Excellence in Academic Writing in Spring 2019 and has been named to the President's List each semester since she started at Hudson Valley.

Jewel Winant has a 4.0 GPA and has won five awards for theatre arts during her time at Hudson Valley. She served as treasurer of the Theatre Club and as secretary, treasurer and president of the American Sign Language Club. She is a tutor for the Learning Assistance Center and a tutor and note taker for the Center for Access and Assistive Technology.

Jesse Yetto has a 3.8 GPA and is a member of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society. He also serves as the vice president of fellowship and service for the college’s PTK chapter. He has been named to the President’s List six times and the Dean’s List twice during his time at Hudson Valley.