EWU Recognizes
Outstanding Student Leaders

Black and white linen, twinkling centerpieces and live jazz by the band TV Dinner greeted attendees of this year’s Student Leadership Excellence Awards.

The May 5 event, held inside the PUB’s Nysether Community Room, attracted more than 120 elegantly attired people, including students from a number of campus clubs and organizations and faculty and staff members who were nominated for awards.

The evening honored 18 award winners, each recognized for making a difference for the EWU and larger community, with words of recognition along with a custom Swoop-themed trophy designed by EWU’s Ideation Lab.

Among the evening’s top winners was Raul Segura, a 21-year-old psychology student from Pasco, Washington who received the Student Leader of the Year award.

Segura, who has volunteered for numerous causes, was recently accepted for graduate studies in school psychology at Howard University.

In graduate school, he plans to do research that benefits schoolchildren, especially those who deal with language barriers that may expose them to misunderstandings and unfair treatment in the classroom.

“I just want to make sure that everybody has the same opportunities, nobody is at a disadvantage and everybody gets the same quality of education,” Segura said. “That’s my goal as a school psychologist.”

EWU’s Kelsey Hatch-Brecek, director of alumni relations, and Isai Vela, assistant director of student engagement and the PUB, co-emceed the event.

President Shari McMahan welcomed the group, while keynote speaker, Lea Jarnagin, the university’s vice president of student affairs, shared a few words about the value of getting involved in campus activities, including benefits that help students progress through their studies, build skills for the workplace and graduate with a greater satisfaction of their college experience.

Her own college success story, Jarnagin said, started while she worked as a student employee. What began as mundane office work blossomed into a career track after Jarnagin’s supervisor noted she had great people skills and assigned her to work as a peer advisor. The applied-learning experience inspired Jarnagin to pursue a career working in student affairs.

Segura found his own inspiration to become a school psychologist from his older sister. The first in their family to attend college, she graduated from Eastern and went on to teach in the Pasco School District, a district he’d also love to serve.

Segura said once he arrived at Eastern, the McNair Scholars played a big role in his success and the path he will pursue in graduate school.

“Because of that program, I am at where I’m at today,” Segura said. “They helped me realize the impact of research and how research can help change a lot of different places and how it can impact policy and the lives of others.”

Several awards were given to EWU faculty and staff who were nominated by some of the students they serve.

Jana Jaraysi-Alvarez, director of admissions, received the Advisor of the Year award.

“It was such an honor to win the award,” Jaraysi-Alvarez said. “Gamma Alpha Omega (GAO) Sorority started 14 years ago when a student came looking for me to ask if I could be their advisor. I said ‘yes,’ and we’re still going strong.”

She said the students’ kind words in the nomination took her by surprise, adding “I wasn’t expecting it. I support them as much as possible, encourage them to get involved, take on leadership roles but have some balance in life as it can be a lot.”

Jaraysi-Alvarez she’s proud of the students who are part of GAO and what they’ve accomplished over the years, and that she wholeheartedly recommends relationship-building with students.

“If a student organization reaches out to a staff or faculty who need an advisor, just say yes,” Jaraysi-Alvarez recommended. “You’ll learn so much about our amazing students, their involvements and they give so much back.”