Stories

Department Celebrates 2024 Graduates and Award Winners at End-of-Year Banquet

Our Department hosted our annual end-of-the-year celebration and banquet on May 13 to celebrate our exceptional graduating seniors, announce our annual awards, and induct our newest students into our national AKD Honor Society. Dr. Matthew Clair, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Stanford University, honored the department with a special keynote address.

Congratulations to all of our graduating Sociology Majors: Sarahi Espinoza Salamanca; Samantha Frank; Catherine Graves; Delaney James; Shobha Joneja; Lauren Kelley; An Le; Kelly Lelapinyokul; Georgia Lewis; Angelica (Natalie) Nunez; Isabelle Miller; Christina Nelson; Bryce Nishikawa; Shoyun (Claire) Oh; Saira Sambrano; Sonali Sidhu; Isabella Tamone; Allison Thigpen; Adeline Thompson; Karina Tsou; Catherine Turner; and Naomi Renee Yang.

All students were given a copy of Dr. Clair’s book, Privilege and Punishment, which he graciously signed at the end of the night.

Seniors majoring in sociology were recognized for their academic excellence and outstanding contributions through awards presented by the department. These awards serve as a testament to their dedication and hard work in the field.

The Krassowski Award is presented to the senior(s) with the best sociological research paper. This year’s first place Witold Krassowski Award was awarded to Bryce Nishikawa for his paper, “Diversity Requirements: An Analysis of Policy and Interpersonal Interactions at Santa Clara University.” Second place was awarded to Lauren Kelley and Lia Kraaijvanger for their paper, “Jibu Customer Carbon Savings in Rwanda.”

The Sociology Alumni Award for Excellence in Community-Based Work recognizes the exceptional contributions made by the recipients through their community service benefiting both the university and the wider community. The prize for community work internal to SCU was awarded to co-winners Kelly Lelapinyokul and Christina Nelson for their extensive service to the Sociology Department and larger SCU community. The prize for community work external to SCU was awarded to Sarahí Espinoza Salamanca for her national award-winning work for undocumented students and educational justice.

The Sociology Academic Excellence Award is presented to outstanding sociology students who achieved the highest Sociology GPA among the graduating seniors. This year's recipients of the award all had a 4.0 GPA. Congratulations to Kelly Lelapinyokul, Bryce Nishikawa and Naomi Yang.

The department inducted new members into the Alpha Kappa Delta (AKD) International Sociology Honor Society to recognize their outstanding academic achievements and commitment to the field. Welcome to our new 2024 chapter initiates: