Awards

David R. Andrew Scholar Award

The scholar award is named after Dr. David R. Andrew. This award is given to a student who maintains a high GPA, is involved in scholarly activities and still finds time to contribute to the community.

The Fall 2012 David R. Andrew Scholar Award goes to Jarad Champagne. Jarad was the recipient of seven scholarships over the course of his college career - TOPS Honors, Dr. Ben and Claire Thibodeaux scholarship, Honeywell scholarship, Computer Science Departmental Scholarship, Marion Butler Scholarship, Keith Lindley Scholarship and Manning P. Menard Memorial Scholarship. He has been on either the President's List or Dean's List throughout his course of study. He is a member of Phi Kappa Phi. Jarad participated in the Honors Program for four years and was on the Honors Board where he served as the Historian and Building and Development Committee Chair. He was also a member of the Association for Computing Machinery serving as Secretary/Historian. Jarad received the Outstanding Freshman for Computer Science award. He participated in Campus Clean-Up, ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest at the South Central USA regional level, the National Collegiate Honors Council and the Louisiana Collegiate Honors Council and was a chorus member for The Marriage of Figaro Opera. He was also a STEP lab assistant for the Learning Center and a receptionist for the Computer Science Department. Jarad received two degrees at the Fall graduation ceremony - one in Computer Science and the other in Mathematics. He finished with a GPA of 3.872.

Dr. Sigred Lanoux Service Award

The service award is named after Dr. Sigred Lanoux and is given to students who excel in community and university service.

The Fall 2012 Dr. Sigred Lanoux Service Award goes to Richie Diaz. Richie was the recipient of the TOPS Performance and the Lafayette Parish Medical Society scholarships. She was on both the President's list and Dean's list for her college career. She was the student vice-president for Phi Kappa Phi Honor society, Historian for the Pre-Professional Society, a peer mentor for UNIV 100, and a member of AmeriCorps, the Biological Society and an intramural volleyball team. Richie transferred to UL during her junior year and in the short time she has been with us, she has volunteered at Habitat for Humanity, tutored at Alice Boucher Elementary school, worked for Project Homecoming in New Orleans, Rebuilding Together Acadiana in Lafayette, OEP community wide clean-up, the Cinderella Project, and the Bayou Vermillion District. She also volunteered for United Way of Acadiana, A Pregnancy Center & Clinic, Louisiana 211, Louisiana Animal Response Team, Muscular Dystrophy Association's Muscle Walk and St. Joseph's Diner. She even spent two weeks in Belize during the summer of 2011 working with native medical doctors and nurses in setting up field clinics. Richie is one of the recipients of the UL Dean of Community Service's Exceptional Service Award. She received a degree in Biology with a minor in Chemistry and finished with a 3.712 GPA.

Dean Dwayne Blumberg Spirit Award

The Fall 2012 Dean Dwayne Blumberg Spirit Award goes to Brian Fischer. Brian has shown tremendous determination and tenacity to complete his undergraduate degree in spite of being affected by Asperger Syndome and, perhaps more pertinently, suffering from a severe, life-threatening, potentially crippling injury about a year and a half ago.

Brian is a Geology major who loves the outdoors and is an experienced hiker and camper. He had been an Eagle Scout who attended and taught at the Philmont Boy Scout Camp in the rugged mountains of New Mexico. In the summer of 2011 Brian was participating in Summer Field Camp, a rigorous 6 credit, 6 week-long course that is required of all Geology majors. Late in the afternoon of June 8th Brian was returning from the day's field work after climbing to the top of Sheep Mountain in the Big Horn Basin of Wyoming. It was the fourth and last day of a large project and he and two other students were within about a half mile of the vans. Descending through a steep ravine, Brian, the middle person in the group, placed his left hand on a large boulder to steady his descent down the rocky valley. Suddenly and without warning, the 5 foot long boulder slid towards Brian; he was able to push himself partly out of the way, but unfortunately the boulder landed on his right thigh. His right femur was crushed into at least 20 fragments and he was pinned under the rock. It took 5 students just to roll the rock off of Brian's leg. Without being too graphic, bones and blood were exposed, but Brian never panicked. His fellow students and faculty administered first aid and stabilized him. Emergency medical personnel from local groups arrived within about an hour and, along with a dozen or so fellow students, were able to carry Brian to the van area and a waiting ambulance in another hour. He was transferred to and stabilized at a local hospital, and then air lifted to a larger facility in Billings MT where he spent the next couple weeks before returning to Louisiana.

It would have been easy for Brian to quit after such a serious, debilitating accident, but Brian kept a positive attitude and refused to give up. He returned to school in August, first in a wheelchair, then sequentially on crutches, in a walker, with a cane, and finally on his own 2 feet, and now he is back to jogging. Throughout the recovery his spirit and attitude were never diminished. He laughed and joked about his situation with fellow students and faculty and had a positive outlook at all times. He was able to continue with a full schedule and to remain active in the Honors Program. Brian received a Bachelor's degree in Geology at the Fall commencement.