Addressing her fellow students at a year-end celebration, Jessica Rogers, president of the Trent International Students Association (TISA), said: “I encourage you all tonight to be leaders in your society, as leadership comes in many forms. I encourage you to embrace your experience here at Trent—a university unlike any other. And I encourage you to remain connected to me and to each other as I am more than willing to stand as a proud alumni amongst you all as my peers.”
On April 8, students, staff, faculty and community members joined in celebration at the annual Trent International Program (TIP) and TISA Gala, an end of year celebration honoring graduating international students and recognizing the outstanding accomplishments of Trent's international community.
The highlight of the evening was the presentation of awards to several Trent students and members of the international community for their outstanding contributions and dedication.
Among the honorees at this year's event were Renzo Costa (Uruguay), who received the prestigious Jack Matthews Award, named in honour of the founding director of TIP. This top award is given to a graduating student in recognition of their outstanding commitment and contributions to internationalization, both locally and globally. Mr. Costa has distinguished himself both academically and as a campus leader throughout his four years at Trent; he has received offers for graduate study at several prestigious institutions in Europe.
Keynote addresses were given by graduating students Duc Hien Nguyen (Vietnam), and Jessica Rogers (St. Martin) who were jointly named recipients of the David Morrison Award. The Morrison Award is presented annually to an upper year student in recognition of substantial academic and social involvement at Trent University and with the Trent International Program.
Other awards presented at the event, included:
Leonard Conolly Award, recognizes outstanding commitment and contributions to the support of refugee students, was awarded to Tabitha Chol (Sudan/Canada) who inspires Trent’s international community to embrace challenges and fight for global justice.
Karanja Njoroge Community Service Award, jointly presented to Cornel Grey (Jamaica) and Eugenia Ochoa (El Salvador) for their commitment to student involvement, and their dedication to development education, equality, and inclusion.
The Hulcoop Prize, named in honor of a retired Trent staff member, was awarded to two first-year students, Sancha Reynolds (St. Lucia) and Olga Kuznietsova (Ukraine) who each embraced leadership roles in the international student community during their first year at Trent.
The Exchange Award was jointly awarded to incoming international students Lara Birkart (Germany/UK) and Ciaran Tragheim (UK) who have actively invested themselves in the Trent and Peterborough communities. Also recognized was Canadian Julie Eldridge who, after returning from exchange in Scotland, has inspired many others to study abroad.
Boykin Smith (Bahamas) received the Continuing International Student Award in recognition of his commitment to equity, accessibility and rights of International students and other marginalized groups on campus.
The ESL Award, presented to someone in ESL who has made a positive contribution to the ESL program, TIP, the Trent community, and/or wider community, went to Mohammed Samkari (Saudi Arabia).
Finally, the Robert Campbell Friends of TIP Award, which recognizes a member of the faculty, staff, or wider Peterborough community for enriching the international programming of the University and/or the experience of Trent's international students, was presented to the Head of Traill College, Dr. Michael Eamon.
Posted on Monday, April 13, 2015.