Spirit of 76 Lifted at Honors Banquet
The President’s Awards, along with the emotional presentation of the inaugural Ann Giovanelli Awards, were among the 76 honors bestowed at the Rider University Awards Banquet on Sunday, April 27, in the Cavalla Room.
President Mordechai Rozanski brought the evening of recognition for undergraduate academic achievement to a high point when he presented the President’s Awards to Dionne Lashley, Laura Vendetta and Nicholas Ballasy. Lashley, president of the Westminster Choir College Student Government Association, was originally presented her award last month on the convocation at the Princeton campus. Unbeknownst to her at the time was that her parents had traveled from their home in Barbados to see Lashley win the prestigious honor.
Vendetta, the SGA president on the Lawrenceville campus, and Ballasy, the host of Rider University Network’s On the Issues television news program, were given their President’s Awards for the first time at the banquet. Ballasy, who attended the dinner unaware that he would win the award, felt privileged to be recognized.
“Winning this award is quite an honor,” he said. “While spending countless hours doing classwork, setting up shoots for my talk show, preparing for and conducting the interviews and working part-time, I developed a routine. Over time, the routine just became natural and I continued to work hard without thinking twice about it. Now that I've come to the end of my undergraduate career at Rider, the President's Award is an excellent reminder that my work was recognized and commended by the Rider community.”
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| From left, Boris Vilic, dean of the College of Continuing Studies, Dr. James Riggs, Amy Giovanelli, Michael Giovanelli and Marcia Leach at the Awards Banquet on April 27. Riggs and Leach won the inaugural Ann Giovanelli Awards for faculty and students, respectively. |
One honor being given for the first time was the Ann Giovanelli Award. Conceived by Boris Vilic, dean of the College of Continuing Studies, the award is named in memory of Ann Giovanelli, a CCS alumna who graduated summa cum laude in December 2006. Giovanelli, who fought a long battle with cancer throughout her time as a student at Rider, performed at the highest level in the classroom in spite of her illness before succumbing shortly after reaching her dream of a college degree.
Giovanelli’s son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Amy Giovanelli, were on hand to help Vilic present the Student Award to Marcia Leach, in recognition of her efforts to achieve excellence in the classroom while overcoming significant life challenges. They also helped honor the Faculty Award winner, Dr. James Riggs, professor of Biology, who earned the honor as the faculty member who exhibits Rider’s commitment to adult learners.
Leach’s husband died in October 2001 from a rare form of prostate cancer. Following his initial surgery, he was left with a stomach tube, a stoma for catheters and a colostomy, and it fell to Leach to be her husband’s caregiver for two years as he fought to survive. On the day of his funeral, Leach’s father also entered the hospital and died three months later. Six months after that, Leach’s mother suffered a stroke and now suffers from vascular dementia. She was forced to give up her home and move into Leach’s home to receive care. In spite of these travails, Leach has maintained her efforts to receive a bachelor’s degree.
“CCS made it possible for me to work and still be a caregiver,” Leach said. “I’m sure there are many students who must overcome a lot as well, but every now and then, I need to remind myself that I should be proud of myself. I appreciate the opportunity and place to do so.”
Riggs was humbled by the award as well. “Well, I’m very honored, quite honestly, because of the caliber of students involved in the selection process,” he said, referring to the nomination process, which relied heavily on student testimonials. “The students in the adult and evening programs have plenty of distractions, but they don’t make any excuses. I’m often amazed at their ability to juggle their responsibilities. I sacrifice time with my own family to be here at night, and I never mind that because of these dedicated students.”
