At the Honors Convocation, academic departments awarded their own honors and the Administration provided special awards—whether Valedictorian, Dean of Academic Affairs Award, or the Katy Halepi Scholarship Award for Women.
Among the special awardees, Moni Woweries, the 2007 Valedictorian, also received the Vice President for Student Affairs Award, the Abner B. Rosenfield Scholarship, and the Ziska Stennett Reach Alumni Award.
Ask Moni Woweries, the 2007 BMCC Valedictorian about her career plans, and she’s not likely to be definitive. She knows she’ll be majoring in political science at Hunter College this fall – and once she has her Bachelors degree, she will go on for a Masters. But what comes next is anyone’s guess. “I’m a lifelong learner,” says BMCC’s valedictorian. “I think about what I want to study – not what I want to do.”
Born in Germany, Woweries, at 17, spent her last year of high school as an exchange student in North Dakota, and stayed in the U.S. for good after graduating. The next few years she studied at a musical theatre conservatory, worked for a law firm, immersed herself in activist causes and got married. She enrolled in BMCC in 2006.
“I couldn’t have wished for a better learning environment,” she says. “The faculty and staff have been incredibly nurturing.” While maintaining a 4.0 GPA, Woweries worked on the student newspaper, founded Campus Animal Rights Educators, tutored at the BMCC Learning Center and taught at the UN International School. Last April, she was one of 15 BMCC students to attend the Global Issues Seminar in Salzburg, Austria.
As for her career plans, Woweries has some ideas. “Maybe academia,” she says. “But nothing is set in stone.”
Christine Roehrs-Spates, was honored with the Senior Vice President/ Dean of Academic Affairs Award. Roehrs-Spates, is a part-time student and full-time parent, majoring in Childhood Education. The mother of two talented teenage daughters and an educational assistant, Christine serves special needs students. She has been a member of the New York City Department of Education for the last ten years and for the last five years she has focused on Special Education.
Kishma Daniel received the Katy Halepi Scholarship Award for Women, which was donated by Elizabeth Butson, the Vice Chair of the BMCC Foundation. Daniel was born in and raised in Dieppe Bay, one of the poorest and most rural villages in the Federation of St. Kits and Nevis. After graduating high school and working for ten years, Kishma enrolled as a freshman at BMCC. She became very involved in student life. She was the Treasurer of the Peer Mentoring Club, a member of the Travel and Tourism Club, and a Student Ambassador with the Merrill-Lynch supported Money Works Project. She has been accepted to Baruch College as an Accounting major.
For a full picture of the recipients of the Honors Convocation, please see the event program below.
Program
Introductory Welcome
Dr. Michael Haynes, Vice President for Student Affairs
Dr. Sadie Bragg, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Welcome
Dr. Antonio Pérez, President
Performances by the BMCC Chorus:
I’ll Make the Difference by Moses Hogan
And Wherever You Go by Douglas E. Wagner
Dr. Eugenia Oi Yan Yau, director
Ms. Jan Di Yoon, pianist
Mr. Bing J. Ng, percussionist
Mr. Blake Kelly, tenor
Presentation of Awards
Dr. Sadie Bragg, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
and
Chairpersons
Departmental Awards
Accounting
Louis Horowitz Award, Derrick C. Batson
Louis Horowitz Award, Oliveene E. Gayle
Louis Horowitz Award, Jennifer Hornback
Louis Horowitz Award, Takako Kameda
Louis Horowitz Award, Shivani Mohabir
Louis Horowitz Award, Byron J. Stauffer
Louis Horowitz Award, Nutdanai Thonglab
Allied Health Sciences
Academic Excellence in Health Information Technology, Gina L. Forde
Academic Excellence in Health Information Technology, Patricia Tobin
Academic Excellence in Respiratory Therapy Technology, Nancy E. Owanga
Academic Excellence in Respiratory Therapy Technology, Shiraz Yar
Business Management
Academic Excellence in Business Administration, Tamar Apridonidze
Academic Excellence in Business Administration, Lineth Sanguino
Academic Excellence in General Business Management, Paola G. Mendizabal
Academic Excellence in Finance & Banking, Lidija Stupar
Academic Excellence in Small Business /Entrepreneurship, Yuko Mizuguchi
Academic Excellence in Office Operations, Nakiya M. Ingram
Academic Excellence in Office Operations, Jessica Rivera
Academic Excellence in Office Operations, Nancy Santiago
Center for Ethnic Studies
Academic Excellence in Latin American Studies, Alienor M. Alessandrini
Academic Excellence in African-American Studies, Lucie Novackova
Computer Information Systems
Academic Excellence in Computer Operations, Osyrus C. Kimathi
Academic Excellence in Computer Programming, Carmen E. Wells
Academic Excellence in Computer Science, Charles O. Reale
Academic Excellence in Computer Science, Oliver I. Takacs
Academic Excellence in Multimedia Programming, Mona A. Yacoub
Grace Hopper Award, Carmen E. Wells
Cooperative Education
Accounting Award, Takako Kameda
Accounting Award, Oscar Paulino
Business Management Award, Daniela Villar
Finance Award, Lidija Stupar
Small Business/Entrepreneurship Award, Anthony D. Belgrave
Office Operations Award, Channa Pich
Multimedia Art & Design Award, Jennifer L. Prevatt
Video Arts & Technology Award, Pedro A. Florentin
Multimedia Programming Award, Mona A. Yacoub
English
Academic Excellence in English, Antonella P. Cutello
Roger B. Dooley Creative Writing Award, Camille J.M. Dickinson
Roger B. Dooley Creative Writing Award, Anthony Figueroa
Alex Morissey Award for Excellence in Journalism, Juli Zacchini
Human Services
Academic Excellence in Human Services, Daniel Aronoff
Academic Excellence in Human Services, Christine A. Chiffriller
Academic Excellence in Human Services, Denise L. Crumwell
Academic Excellence in Human Services, Octavio A. Posado
Academic Excellence in Human Services, Verena Salvi
Academic Excellence in Human Services, Valentine E. Uwangue
Mathematics
Icarus Mathematics Award, Flor M. Fernandez
Academic Excellence in Mathematics, Leonor Perez
Modern Languages
Academic Excellence in Chinese, Wen Guang Lu
Academic Excellence in French, Hamissou Samari
Academic Excellence in French, Charlotte Victoria Davis
Academic Excellence in Italian, Kozeta Prendi
Academic Excellence in Italian, Jillian L. Gritz
Academic Excellence in Spanish, Antonella P. Cutello
Academic Excellence in Spanish, Maria Prifti
Music & Art
Academic Excellence in Multimedia Art & Design, Damon C. Carpentier
Academic Excellence in Multimedia Art & Design, Nozomi Niioka
Academic Excellence in Multimedia Art & Design, Jennifer L. Prevatt
Academic Excellence in Multimedia Art & Design, Tomoe Sato
Academic Excellence in Multimedia Art & Design, Najwa Sebbahi
Nursing
Academic Excellence in Nursing, Maureen J. Dennis
Academic Excellence in Nursing, Eberechi Kalu-Uchenna
Academic Excellence in Nursing, Anne Perald Louisa
Academic Excellence in Nursing, Ramrattie Rambarran
Academic Excellence in Nursing, Anna Louise Sicoco-Pe
Science
Academic Excellence in Science, Latifa Hadir
Academic Excellence in Science, Anuj N. Persad
Academic Excellence in Engineering Science, Cleo F. Bartlette
Speech, Communication and Theatre Arts
Joshua Smith VAT Award, Jeannie F. Cruz
Joshua Smith VAT Award, Klara Egei
Joshua Smith VAT Award, Pedro A. Florentin
Academic Excellence in Theatre, Gillian L. Rougier
Academic Excellence in Multimedia Video Production, Jacek Jankowicz
Teacher Education
Academic Excellence in Early Childhood Education – Preschool, Noemi O. Catalano
Vanguard Award Finalist, William Richards
Academic Excellence in Childhood Education, Christine Roehrs-Spates
Academic Excellence in Early Childhood Education – Infancy, Teuta Selimi
Special Awards
Valedictorian, Moni Woweries
Senior Vice President/Dean of Academic Affairs Award, Christine Roehrs-Spates
Vice President for Student Affairs Award, Moni Woweries
College Discovery Award, Julia Resseque
Association of Faculty and Staff of African Descent, William Newsome
Abner B. Rosenfield Scholarship, Moni Woweries
Katy Halepi Graduating Scholarship for Women, Kishma S. Daniel
Martin B. Dworkis Memorial Award, Ohionameh U. Aregbeyen
Ziska Stennett Reach Alumni, Moni Woweries
Leila & Simon Peskoff Memorial Scholarship Awards
Helen Rosario
Daniel A. Gil
Honors Convocation Committee
Orville Hill
Sandra Rumayor
Harry Mars
Cindy Veras
Music
Jonathan Finkelman, guitar
Michael Neal, trumpet, flute & flugelhorn
Mark Hagan, bass
Bruce Cox, drums
