It was a night for celebration and creating memories with families and friends at the Student Leadership and Involvement Award ceremony held on the Panorama campus on Apr. 13.
The event was not only for Bakersfield College students, but faculty staff as well, where hard work and dedication were honored and awarded, even handing scholarships to students.
The Student Leadership and Involvement awards, hosted by BCSGA, was held at the BC Student Life building, as nominees and guests enjoyed free refreshments and food pre-ceremony.
The award ceremony honored BC students for displaying leadership roles, and faculty members for their hard work and dedication. The honor was not just about the time they spent on campus or teaching, as they also recognized their outstanding work as leaders making an impact on peers and members on campus.
Over 150 Bakersfield College students and faculty members were nominated to receive an award, which were all chosen by students or faculty members who have illustrated their roles of leadership. Bakersfield College President Dr. Jerry E. Flinger spoke before kicking off the ceremony.
Bakersfield College is like a mirror to the city itself, as it is filled with diversity. This campus is filled with many different backgrounds and circumstances, and the ceremony highlighted that with the awards handed out. One example is ‘The Previously Incarcerated Award,’ which was handed to Michael Wyatt who was previously incarcerated for over 17 years.
“I’m becoming the first person in my family to finish college; I’m making up for lost time,” said Wyatt as he received his award.
Other major awards handed out were BCSGA’s ‘Single Parent’ scholarship given to Gabriella Palacios, BCSGA LGBT+ scholarship given to Andrea Chaidez, and the ‘Champion of Diversity’ scholarship, which was given to Amanda Anguino, as well as many other awards.
Once the awards were handed out, BCSGA announced the elected winners from this year’s election results. Abigail Tamayo won Director of Student Organization, Raya Arafah earned BCSGA vice president, and Cindy Ceja Miranda won both positions for BCSGA president and KCCD Trustee.
