Santa Clara University

SCU » Points of Excellence » Student Accomplishments

2006 – Present

Michael Hayes '10, biochemistry, in 2009 won a Goldwater Scholarship, an award for students expected to one day become leaders in the fields of mathematics, natural sciences, or engineering. He was one of 278 sophomores or juniors nationwide to receive the annual award.

Benjamin Snyder '09, a senior triple-majoring in German studies, political science, and history, won a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to teach English in Saxony in the former East Germany. After graduation, he will teach English to German secondary school students for a year starting in fall 2009.

Elizabeth Tellman ’09, a sustainable globalization and environmental studies double major, in Spring 2009 received a Fulbright scholarship to study in El Salvador during the 2009–10 academic year. Her proposed study, “Beyond Fair Trade: Alternative Coffee Markets for Alleviating Food Insecurity in El Salvador” will allow her to follow up on her senior thesis, “What Matters More Than Coffee: Why Livelihood in El Salvador Depends on more than ‘Just’ Trade.”

Noelle Lopez ’09, a philosophy major and captain of the women’s cross-country team, in November 2008 was named one of 32 Rhodes Scholars. Beginning in fall 2009, she will pursue graduate studies in philosophy at Oxford University in the United Kingdom.

Meghan Mooney ’09, an anthropology major focusing on environmental health, was named a Udall Scholar in 2008. Established by the U.S. Congress in 1992, the Morris K. Udall Foundation honors Congressman Morris King Udall’s 30-year legacy of public service, specifically fostering a greater recognition and understanding of the role of the environment. She was the Communications and Community Outreach Coordinator for Santa Clara’s 2006–07 Solar Decathlon team.

Sergio Escobar Vargas, mechanical engineering doctoral candidate, won the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ 2008 Electronic and Photonic Packaging Division Student Member of the Year Award.

The California College Media Association showcased the best in student journalism at an awards presentation March 1, 2008, in San Francisco. The Santa Clara, competing in the weekly newspaper division, earned an impressive number of awards: second place for general excellence; third place for overall design; first place in the news series category for work by Mary Georgevich ’09 and Michelle Enos ’07; first place in the news feature category for work by Megan O’Connor ’07 and second place in the news feature category for work by Jeremy Herb ’08; first place in the editorial category; first place for arts and entertainment articles by Brittany Benjamin ’10; third place for an arts and entertainment column to Katie Powers ’09; first place to Chris Woodhouse ’10 for best sports column and second place in the sports column category to Chris Furnari ’08; third place in the Web site category for interactivity. The winners were chosen from more than 900 entries from California in more than 75 categories for editorial, photo, design, and advertising content in newspapers, magazines, and online publications.

Jonathan McDonald ’08 received first place for his essay “Limits to Empire: Alexander the Great at the Hyphasis,” and Ruth Caswell ’09 won second place with her essay “Rationing Femininity: Gendered Undergarments in the Second World War” at the Phi Alpha Theta regional California conference in 2008. Both are members of the History Honors Society.

Casey Kute ’08, Engineering, won the Goldwater Fellowship in 2007. She was one of 317 winners from a field of 1,100 applicants, and one of only 54 engineering students chosen.

Khin Phyu '06, MS '07, Computer engineering, was awarded certificate NSTISSI No. 4011 for Information Systems Security Professionals from the Committee on National Security Systems and the National Security Agency.

Michael Strockis ’08, of San Jose, and Jonathon Riggs ’08, of Genoa, Nevada, have been accepted as 2007–08 Undergraduate Fellows with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington, D.C.

In 2007, the History Honors Society competed in the Phi Alpha Theta regional California conference and swept all awards: Brigid EckhardChristina Lynch '07 took second, Peter Panacy '08 place third, and Joseph Novotny '07 placed fourth. '07 placed first,

Laura Nichols ’90, Sociology, directed a team of SCU sociology majors who won the 2007 Problem Solving Award from the Association of Applied and Clinical Sociology. The team was Rebecca Jones ’07, Zack Marisca ’08, Patricia McGlynn ’07, Cristina Sanidad ’08, and Olga Vasserman ’09.

In 2007, student journalists from The Santa Clara took home three national awards in the Story of the Year competition at the 86th annual National College Media Convention in Washington, D.C. on October 27, 2007. Co-sponsored by the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) and the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP), the competition “recognizes initiative and original reporting of a situation, problem or issue affecting students.” Judges look for entries which show leadership, quality writing, sensitivity, and fairness. The Santa Clara Editor Jeremy Herb ’08 took first place in the feature category. Megan O'Connor ’07 earned first place in the diversity category. The Santa Clara’s editorial board won third place in the editorial/opinion category. The board was made up of Herb, Ryan Groshong ’08, Jessica Silliman ’07, and Elizabeth Weeker ’07.

Santa Clara University won third place in the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon competition on the National Mall, in Washington D.C. on October 19, 2007, after 18 months of planning. The Solar Decathlon is an international event sponsored by the Department of Energy in which 20 student teams competed to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient house, powered exclusively by the sun.

The 2007 Solar Decathlon Team was named an Environmental Achievement Award winner by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, one of only 29 winners from Arizona, California, Nevada, Hawaii, and the Pacific Islands. The award presentation was held April 14 at the EPA’s San Francisco office.

Darren Brazil ’07, Communication, won two Emmys in 2006 from the Northern California Chapter of the National Academy for Television Arts and Sciences for his work as editor on the High School Sports Focus documentary Mack Family and the “Swisher Unscripted” segment from the A’s On Deck show.

In 2006, The Santa Clara, SCU’s student-run newspaper, named the best overall weekly college newspaper in its division by the California College Media Association.

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