This year’s Agnes Benedickson Tricolour Award recipients were announced Monday.
The award, in its 68th year, recognizes students who have made an impact on the University through non-academic, non-athletic extracurricular involvement.
Every year the number of students selected for recognition varies.
This year, four students were named of the Tricolour Society. Last year, only one student received the award.
Alexandra Harris, Nurs ’08
Alexandra Harris was co-founder and inaugural President of the Queen’s Health Science Student Association (QHSSA) in 2006.
Harris was also nursing class president during her first year and vice-president of the Nursing Science Society during her second year at Queen’s. This year, she’s president of the National Health Science Student Association (NHSSA).
“Nursing is in a bubble,” Harris said. “I was trying to break that bubble and show that nursing students could be involved in policy and could be engaged.”
Harris is spending her summer as an intern at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland and has a full-time job lined up at Toronto General Hospital in September.
Christopher DeLuca, B.Ed ’04, M.Ed ’05, PhD ’10
Christopher DeLuca is working towards his third degree at Queen’s—a PhD in Education with a focus on assessment in curriculum theory.
DeLuca’s on the executive of the Education Graduate Students Society. He was also PhD representative in the Graduate Studies in Research Committee, member of the Queen’s Branch of the General Research Ethics Board and a peer reviewer for the Canadian Journal of New Scholars in Education.
DeLuca said he believes collaboration and discussion are important educational tools.
“When you get people in dialogue with each other, it sparks up new dialogue,” he said. “When you bring people from different areas together, it spurs on learning and new directions and opportunities.”
Adam Say, ArtSci ’08
Waldron Tower don Adam Say began his involvement with the AMS working at Walkhome in his first year, a position he continued throughout his next four years at Queen’s. Last year Say was Walkhome Manager.
This year, Say also chaired the AMS Board of Directors.
Say said he feels he won his award not just because of what he has done during his time at Queen’s, but because of his philosophy behind his decision to become involved.
“I think it’s much more about what you do within these positions,” he said. “As a student leader you have the responsibility to value your interactions with everyone, whether it is someone you work with regularly or someone who is just asking you a question.”
Ryan Marien, Sci ’08 and ArtSci ’08
Ryan Marien is the founder of Goatface Non-Profit Group, a role he took on in 2006 when he oversaw the annual Goatface Ball with the intent of reworking the event’s negative image.
Marien emphasized the ball’s charity aspect and found a new cause for the event, raising funds for palliative care at Kingston General Hospital.
Marien was named Youth Philanthropist of the Year in 2007 by Kingston’s Association of Fundraising Professionals.
In September 2007, Marien created a TA education and training program. The program is now a prerequisite for TAs in two engineering courses.
“My goal is to spread this [program] University-wide so that every TA has to do a full term course. … Every TA should have a very good understanding of what teaching is.”
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