The President's Special Recognition Awards

To better reach a wide diversity of students, Naomi led the effort--with her capable team of colleagues in the Office of Student Fellowships--to overhaul the website, launch a set of campus-wide information sessions, recruit past winners to do social media takeovers, and conduct targeted outreach (e.g., to LEAD classes). During her first 4 years as director, OSF advised over 368 students, with 233 of them enrolled in OSF’s Fulbright Camino Community, which she designed to scale up the individualized work she and her colleagues do with applicants. Hundreds more students have attended OSF’s information sessions.

OSF’s success rate with Naomi’s leadership has been astounding – about 50 Fulbright students since 2009, along with SCU students winning many other prestigious awards and fellowships such as the Truman, Udall, and Goldwater. Importantly, SCU has significantly increased the number of first-generation students and students of color who apply for and win these prestigious awards. And just as important as the success rate, OSF has become a unit known for helping Santa Clara undergraduates discern who they are, what they aspire to, and what contribution they can make after leaving college. All of the faculty and staff at OSF contribute to this supportive culture, and Naomi has been its leader, catalyst, and inspiration since her work as Director began six years ago.