Pearigen Award Winners 2006-2007

ADVENT SEMESTER WINNERS:  Abigail Lee, Raisa Johnson, Dr. Pearigen, Kyle Kaiser, Valerie Moye



EASTER SEMESTER WINNERS:  Dr. Pearigen, Traci Meikle, Syeda Hamadani, James Mason (not pictured - D'Anthony Allen)


AUGUST 2006
For his work as the PRE Orientation Intern, Kyle Jackson Kaiser ’07 is the first recipient of the new Pearigen Award for Commitment to Community.  Please join me in thanking Kyle for his efforts to organize and lead a successful PRE experience for 167 new students and for the 75 leaders who helped to make this program possible.  A senior, natural resources major from San Antonio, Texas, Kyle has been involved with many aspects of campus life.  He has been particularly active with the Sewanee Outing Program, spreading his enthusiasm for the outdoors by leading countless trips, serving as the caving director, the co-leader of a snowshoeing trip to Colorado, and a three-year member of the PRE staff.  In addition, Kyle has studied theater and art in London, has been a resident of the EcoHouse, a participant on the Costa Rica spring break outreach trip, a member of the cast of Dark of the Moon, and has biked the MS 150 two times!  Kyle was also recently given the Stephen Elliott Puckette Award.   Congratulations Kyle!

SEPTEMBER 2006
Valerie Paige Moye ’07 of Oakland, TN is the September winner of the Pearigen Award for Commitment to Community.  Valerie’s commitment to the local environment and community is witnessed in her academic work and leadership endeavors.  For her honors thesis project in Environmental Studies: Ecology and Biodiversity, Valerie used GIS to assess the landscape of the southern Cumberland Plateau region in Tennessee and Alabama, to learn whether there is sufficient habitat in the region to support mountain lions.  Her research showed conclusive evidence that the area could support as many as 50 mountain lions and she is now in the final stages of preparing this paper for publication.  During her sophomore year, Valerie was given the Seabold Award for academic excellence and for demonstrating outstanding potential for accomplishing scientific research while at Sewanee.  Valerie has taken on a new independent research project in which she is using GIS to delineate watersheds and surrounding land uses in nearby counties to help determine what types of development lead to stream impairment.  Her interest in the environment and the land has also carried over into her co-curricular life as Valerie has been a leader in the Sewanee Outing Program, the EcoHouse, and the Sewanee Natural History Society.  And, most recently, Valerie helped to organize the awareness campaigns and friendly protests related to the proposed development at Lake Dimmick.  Congratulations Valerie!

OCTOBER 2006
Abigail W. Lee ’07 of Tarboro, NC is the October winner of the Pearigen Award for Commitment to Community.  Abigail has been described by others as the epitome of an “amazing Sewanee student”.  She is co-chair of the Program Board, co-chair of the Community Service Council, a member of the Phi Kappa Epsilon sorority, a Sunday School teacher at Otey Parrish and she is very active in Sewanee's outreach program.  She can often be found leading trips to the Chattanooga Children's Hospital and participating in Habitat for Humanity events.  Additionally, in the spring of 2006 she participated in the Jamaica outreach trip which focused on construction and community development; and engagement with the Jamaican children and adults. This past summer, through participation in the Lilly Program, Abigail lived in Ecuador and worked with Remanso De Amor (Haven of Love).  She spent her days teaching English, working with children and participating in other kinds of social work in this impoverished community.  Abigail is known and respected for her integrity and altruism.  And, despite her busy schedule and rigorous work load as a biology major, she always finds time for others -- close friends and new acquaintances alike.  Congratulations Abigail for being selected as the October 2006 winner of the Pearigen Award!

NOVEMBER 2006
Lauren Raisa Johnson ’08 of Irondale, AL is the November winner of the Pearigen Award for Commitment to Community.  As Activism Coordinator for Bairnwick Women's Center, she organized Understanding Sexual Assault Week (USAW), which took place November 13-17th.  Raisa worked behind-the-scenes, for over a month, to coordinate multiple events for USAW that were meant to raise awareness about sexual assault on this campus.  During the course of the week, women and men were given a chance to discuss sex and sexuality in a safe and respectful environment.  She collaborated with at least a dozen other student leaders, faculty and staff, to make USAW a purposeful and successful awareness campaign.  Raisa is an International and Global Studies major with a concentration in women’s studies; she is also a writing center tutor.  Her campus involvement includes the following: Music Director for WUTS, a member of SPECE (Students for Positive Extracurricular Engagement), a member of the Order of the Gownsmen, a member of the Sewanee Popular Music Association and she is planning to study abroad this spring in Argentina.  Raisa is a quiet leader who makes a difference because she believes in what she does and she does it with passion.  Congratulations Raisa!

JANUARY 2007
Tracian Amoi Meikle (Traci) ’07 of Mandeville, Jamaica is the January winner of the Pearigen Award for Commitment to Community.  An anthropology and chemistry double-major; Traci hopes to study anthropology in graduate school in order to become a Social Development Consultant.  She has participated in numerous outreach trips during her tenure at Sewanee traveling to the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, helping children at Shake-A-Leg in Miami and providing unparalleled leadership to the January 2007 Jamaica outreach trip.  Traci studied HIV and AIDS in South Africa during the summer of 2006 through the generosity of the Biehl International Research Fund.  On campus, she has been involved in Big People for Little People, OCCU (The Organization for Cross Cultural Understanding), SPECE (Students for Positive Extracurricular Engagement), and the Student Affiliates for Chemistry club.  She was an Assistant Proctor during her sophomore year and an Environmental Resident during her sophomore and junior years. She is currently the Co-Director of the Bairnwick Women’s Center and has formerly served the Center as the Activism Coordinator.  Congratulations Traci for being selected as the January 2007 winner of the Pearigen Award!

FEBRUARY 2007
D’Anthony Marell Allen (Dee) ‘07 of Birmingham, Alabama is the February winner of the Pearigen Award for Commitment to Community.  D’Anthony is one of Sewanee’s most engaged student athletes on campus. For example, in February he arranged for 14 students to attend The State of the Black Union in Virginia, he participated in, and helped organize, the annual Martin Luther King Day celebration, and he performed as a cast member in the play Antigone.  These three events are representative of Dee’s commitment to education and to the Sewanee community.  Dee has also been involved in the following organizations as a Sewanee student: African American Alliance (current president), Gamma Sigma Phi (current secretary), SPECE (Students for Positive Extracurricular Engagement), Multicultural Outreach Board, Fellowship for Christian Athletes (current president), the Faculty/Mentor program and Men Against Rape (a new organization aimed to develop male advocates for sexual assault victims and to organize forums that allow men to challenge socially constructed negative images of masculinity).  He played varsity football for the Sewanee Tigers for 4 years and participated as a member of the Track and Field team for 2 years.  He currently serves as a Proctor in Courts and has been part of the residence life staff for 3 years.  D’Anthony has also been active in service; participating in 3 spring break outreach trips and spending two summers as a Lilly Intern. Dee is an English major with an Education concentration; he is currently student teaching and hopes to find a job as a public school teacher after Sewanee.  D’Anthony is a positive contributor to the academic and social life at Sewanee and an excellent role model for other students who are interested in taking advantage of the many opportunities Sewanee has to offer.  Congratulations D’Anthony!

MARCH 2007
James Randall Mason ’07 of Houston, Texas is the March winner of the Pearigen Award for Commitment to Community.  A political science major who hopes to attend medical school in order to work in developmental health care, James is an active student leader on the Mountain.  He has served on Sewanee's Board of Trustees as a student member during his junior and senior years and he has served the greater Sewanee community for three years as a member (and recently the student director) of the Emergency Medical Service.  He has been a four-year sacristan at All Saints' Chapel and participated in two outreach trips to Haiti.  During his most recent visit to Haiti, James served as the "EMT in residence" and although no major emergencies arose during the trip, his positive demeanor and medical knowledge proved invaluable to those around him.  He was a member of the Sewanee crew team during his junior year and he most recently helped to design a [first aid] curriculum for "health residents" - a new initiative aimed at providing better information about healthy-living to students and the community.  James is perhaps best known, however, for being half of the infamous "James and Dylan" student band; an extremely popular and talented student group. Congratulations James for being selected as the March 2007 winner of the Pearigen Award!

APRIL 2007
Syeda Tun-Nisa Hamadani ’07 of Nashville, Tennessee is the April winner of the Pearigen Award for Commitment to Community.  A chemistry and spanish double-major, Syeda will attend medical school at UT Memphis in the fall of 2008 after she completes her year as a 2007 Watson Fellow.  As a winner of the prestigious Watson Fellowship, Syeda will visit Morocco, Spain, Peru, Venezuela, and Argentina in order to inform her study of “Discovering the Hispano-Muslim Identity: The Legacy of Muslim Influence”.  Syeda has been a dynamic student leader on the Mountain.  She has participated in 6 outreach trips during her tenure at Sewanee; she has visited Ecuador, Jamaica, New Orleans, Miami, and New York (twice); and she served as the student leader of these trips on multiple occasions  Syeda has also been active in the following organizations: the Organization for Cross-Cultural Understanding (OCCU), the Muslim Student Association (current co-chair), the Sewanee Health Professions Society (current president), and the Bairnwick Women’s Center (conference co-chair).  As part of the 2007 Conference on Women, Syeda coordinated a special production of Eve Ensler’s play The Vagina Monologues.  One participant in that effort commented, “Syeda’s enthusiasm, vision and leadership were critical to the success of that event.”  Syeda has also been active in Residence Life, serving as an AP in the Spanish House in 2004-2005 and as a Proctor in Gorgas Hall in 2005-2006.  More recently she participated in Perpetual Motion, choreographing the belly dance and participating in the salsa performance.  Syeda has been a wonderful contributor to academic life and campus life at Sewanee!  Congratulations Syeda!