21st Annual Henry Barnard Distinguished Student Awards Banquet Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Twelve outstanding college seniors from across Connecticut who attend the Connecticut State University System -- Central, Eastern, Southern and Western Connecticut state universities -- were honored on Tuesday, April 21, 2009 by the Connecticut State University System Foundation during the 21st annual Henry Barnard Distinguished Student Awards Banquet, held at the Aqua Turf in Southington, CT.
To be considered for a Barnard Award, a student must have at least a 3.75 GPA and a record of significant community service. The students are nominated by their respective universities and presidents.
The award is named for the first U.S. commissioner of education, Henry Barnard, a distinguished Connecticut educator who was the state’s first superintendent of schools and principal of what later became Central Connecticut State University. This year's Keynote speaker is Doug Guthrie, Senior Vice President of Comcast - Western New England Region.
For more information on this year's event, please contact the foundation at 860-493-0099.
This Year's Award Recipients
Lianne DiFabbio of Stratford is a sociology major and theatre minor at Central Connecticut State University with a 3.75 GPA. Her academic achievements earned her Dean's List, the Capitol Scholarship, membership in the CCSU Honors Program and induction into Alpha Kappa Delta. In 2008, she co-founded Stratford for Shakespeare to revitalize the Stratford Festival Theatre and served on Stratford's Youth and Family Advisory Board. Through her Charter Oak Cultural Center internship in Hartford, she coordinated the "Learning to Repair the World" program that brings Christian, Muslim and Jewish young people together and works with the HartBeat Ensemble to create a theatrical piece reflecting the group's discussions. She was voted "Best Musical Actress" by CCSU's Department of Theatre and studied in London with the department.
Steven Edwards of Durham is a Management Information Systems (MIS) major at Central Connecticut State University with a 3.83 GPA. He earned the St. Paul Travelers Scholarship Award and Excellence in MIS recognition. Edwards served as president, vice president and webmaster of the MIS Club, during which time the club experienced much growth. He was a member of the team that participated in the 2007 Travelers IT Business Case Competition and was awarded third prize. Edwards became an ambassador for the MIS department, helping recruit students in the new MIS major and minor by participating in events that publicized the department's offerings. He is co-webmaster for the Coginchaug Valley Education Foundation, is studying for the Chartered Financial Analyst level one exam and is an application analyst at ING.
Ryan W. Hewey of Vernon is an anthropology major and archaeology minor at Central Connecticut State University with a 3.99 GPA. He was awarded the senior prize for Social and Behavioral Sciences at Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day and at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research. Hewey was also awarded Anthropology Department Honors for the graduating senior with the highest GPA. He is a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and CCSU's chapter of Lambda Alpha. He organized benefit concerts to build a school in Mali, West Africa, taught archaeology at the Hunter Montessori School in New Hartford and volunteered at the Archaeology Laboratory for African and African Diaspora Studies. In September, Hewey will begin pursuing a Ph.D. in historical archaeology. He spends his spare time pursuing his musical career and is a member of the American Society of Composers and Performers.
Amanda Elaine Johnson of Canton is an elementary education and English major who graduated Magna Cum Laude from Central Connecticut State University in December 2008 with a 3.75 GPA. She is the recipient of the Pauline M. Alt Teacher Education Scholarship, the Foundation Scholarship and the Undergraduate Library Research Award. She was on the Dean's List each semester, a CCSU Honors Program Scholar and team leader of Simsbury Relay for Life. Johnson is co-president of Kappa Delta Pi and a member of the Dean's Student Advisory Council. She also served as a group leader for First Year Experience student orientation and as a peer counselor for Natural Helpers on campus. Johnson is currently a fourth-grade teacher at Macdonough Elementary School in Middletown and has taught in West Hartford, Hartford and New Britain.
Sara Hanrahan of Oakdale is a mathematics major with a concentration in secondary education at Eastern Connecticut State University. She has a 3.98 GPA and has earned the SMART Scholarship and the ETS Recognition of Excellence in Mathematics for scoring within the top 15 percent on the Praxis II for math content knowledge. She was on the Dean's List each semester and is a member of Eastern's University Honors Program and the Kappa Mu Epsilon National Mathematics Honor Society. She is also listed in the "Who's Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities." Hanrahan participated in Eastern's first International Honors Colloquia in Scotland where she conducted original math research for her thesis. Hanrahan served as treasurer of the Honors Club, is student teaching at Norwich Free Academy and volunteers weekly at the Covenant Soup Kitchen. Tristan Hobbes of West Utica, NY, is a communication major and sport and leisure management minor at Eastern Connecticut State University with a 3.80 GPA. His has earned the ECSU Foundation Scholarship, ECSU Scholar-Athlete Award, Joe Wojick Coaches Award and National Student Athlete Day Award. His is captain of Eastern's baseball team and was named to the Little East Conference First Team, ECAC All-New England First Team, CoSIDA Academic All-American District 1 First Team and the Little East Conference All-Academic Team. He is president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee that produces "Haunted Happening" each year, and a member of the Lambda Pi Eta-Tau Nu Chapter of the Communication Honor Society and the Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Organization. He is a broadcaster on Eastern's WECS 90.1 and began internet broadcasts of Eastern athletics events. He was also a reporter for "My Hometown Sports" website and newspaper.
Alberto Cifuentes, Jr. of Stamford is a media studies and English major at Southern Connecticut State University with a 3.75 GPA. His achievements have earned him the Ingrid Washinawatok El-Issa Service Award, the Student Life Program Impact Award, the Capitol Scholarship and Dean's List. He also received the Sylvia Spino Endowed Scholarship and the Dr. Adelaide P. Amore Memorial Endowed Scholarship, both from the SCSU Alumni Association. Cifuentes is co-president of LGBTQIA Prism, treasurer of the Media Studies Club and secretary of the SCSU chapter of Amnesty International. He serves as co-chairman of the Connecticut Chapter of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network and led a discussion last year for the Ella Grasso Youth Action Conference on the new teen driving laws. Cifuentes plans to continue his studies after taking a semester off to work for a state or national grassroots/non-profit issues advocacy and human rights awareness organization.
Megan Rudne of Colchester is an art education major at Southern Connecticut State University with a 3.80 GPA. Rudne is a member of the President's Sustainable Climate Committee, the Environmental Futurists Club and received an official citation of the City of New Haven Board of Alderman in 2008. She has been feeding homeless people on the New Haven Green for the last several years and is on the board of directors of the Compassionate Living Project. She was the recipient of the Sylvia Leggiero Spino Memorial Scholarship from the SCSU Alumni Association in both 2007 and 2008. Rudne has been employed as a student worker in the Office of Judicial Affairs and as a resident advisor in the Office of Residence Life. She plans to pursue a master of science degree in special education with a specialization in autism spectrum disorders to help exceptional children express themselves through art.
Catherine Shortell of Wallingford, is a history/secondary education major at Southern Connecticut State University with a 3.81 GPA. Shortell earned the Honors College Presidential Scholarship and is a member of the executive board for Zeta Delta Epsilon. She is also a member of Phi Alpha Theta, the Newman Society and was its president in 2005. She has volunteered at the St. Ann's Soup Kitchen and as a SAT prep coach for "New Haven Let's Get Ready." She participated in the Hunger Awareness Crop Walk and the New Haven Cook and Care Walk-a-thon. She has volunteered as a social studies, science, English and Latin tutor for sixth to12th- grade students. A member of the Honors College, she is a student teacher at Sheehan High School in Wallingford and a caregiver for her mother, who is a quadriplegic. Shortell plans to seek employment as a high school social studies teacher.
Walter J. Stutzman of Madison, a music major at Southern Connecticut State University with a 4.0 GPA, graduated in January. Stutzman is a non-traditional student, opting to pursue a music degree after working 30 years in the field of software design and implementation. In so doing, he was able to convert his hobby of music into his vocation and earned Departmental Honors in Music. He has served as a volunteer cantorial accompanist for the Temple Beth Tikvah choir in Madison where he was recognized with the President's Award for Service. He earned a Master of Arts degree from Yale University in linguistics in 1975 and a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics from Pomona College in 1971. Stutzman hopes to teach music appreciation, theory and/or piano in a secondary school in Connecticut.
Meredith A. Liberto of New Milford is a biochemistry major from Western Connecticut State University with a 3.72 GPA. She was named to the Dean's List and received the WCSU Academic Scholarship, the WCSU Alumni Association Scholarship, the Student Leadership Recognition Award and was a Boehringer Ingelheim Connecticut Business and Industry Association Fellowship Recipient. Liberto is a member of the WCSU Honors Program, the American Chemical Society and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. She is president and a volunteer tutor for the WCSU Chemistry Club. During her presidency, the American Chemical Society's Committee on Education selected WCSU's student affiliate chapter for a Commendable Achievement Award. She was also coordinator of WCSU's "Careers in Science" seminars and "Wizards of Chemistry" show, and is a research intern at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceutical Company in Ridgefield.
Laura Telman of Litchfield is a music education major at Western Connecticut State University with a 3.9 GPA. She earned the WCSU Merit Scholarship, the WCSU Spirit Band Scholarship, the James Furman Memorial Award and WCSU Research Day Award. She is a member of the WCSU Honors Program, WCSU's National Association for Music Education chapter and was secretary of the WCSU Jazz Club. She participated in WCSU's student and faculty brass quintets and in a trumpet retreat in Karuizawa, Japan, and in a semi-professional orchestra during a residency in Rome. She gives individual trumpet instruction and is a student teacher at New Canaan High School and at the Huckleberry Hill School in Brookfield. Telman is now working with WCSU's Music Department to establish a community music program, and hopes to continue a career in education and community outreach and pursue a master's degree in music performance on the trumpet.
About Henry Barnard
Henry Barnard
Henry Barnard was born in Hartford on January 24, 1811, to a wealthy family and never lacked a comfortable income. He became a lawyer after graduating from Yale in 1836 but found little interest in the practice of law. In 1837 he was elected to the General Assembly where he introduced legislation to help the blind, the deaf and the insane. He also participated in debates over the funding of public education, and henceforth became almost obsessed with improving Connecticut’s school system. For Barnard, public education was the means of ensuring that the American people remained capable of self-government, and he subsequently spent much of his personal fortune to publish journals advocating educational reform.
In 1838 he became secretary of the Board of Commissioners of the Common Schools and began to issue a series of reports detailing the problems he hoped to solve. At that time, elementary education was the responsibility of school districts in which the primary concern was cutting costs. Above all, the school districts were loath to spend money on teachers’ salaries or on educational material. Barnard’s solution was to invoke the authority of the state government to force each district to meet certain standards for buildings, teachers, attendance and textbooks.
Barnard’s program was resisted, and he even lost his position for a time as a result of politics. Gradually, however, his concept of what a school should be became the accepted norm. In 1850 Barnard became the state’s superintendent of schools and principal of the New Britain Normal School (now Central Connecticut State University). In 1867 he was named the first United States commissioner of education. These appointments indicate the acceptance of his ideas on the state and national levels.
Barnard died in Hartford on July 5, 1900, at the age of eighty-nine.
Source: James P. Walsh, The Connecticut Humanities Council, 2007
