May 10, 2018

Dear Members of the Connecticut College Community,

This Friday we will celebrate the fifth annual Presidential Staff Recognition Awards, which honor the excellence of our staff. After an overwhelmingly positive response again this year, I am pleased to let you know about the outcome of this year’s selection process.

There are five individual award categories for this program: an award for rising star, an award for inspiration, an award for service excellence, an award for citizenship, and—new this year—a student support award to recognize a staff member who has served as an extraordinary support to current students. Our team award categories include citizenship and service excellence. The selection committee received 85 nominations from across campus for these awards. The strength of each nomination indicates how fortunate we are at Connecticut College to have so many exemplary staff committed to professionalism and service.

The selection committee recently made their final decisions, and I am very pleased to announce the 2018 award winners: Makayla Grays (Rising Star), Richard Schenk (Inspiration), Jim Luce (Citizenship), Kimberly Sanchez (Service Excellence), Jeannette Williams (Student Support), academic department assistants (Service Excellence Team Award), and the Human Resources staff (Citizenship Team Award). I know you will want to join me in congratulating these exceptional staff members for their stellar work on behalf of the College.

If you would like to offer your congratulations in person, please join me on Friday, May 11, at 9:30 a.m. for the Presidential Staff Recognition Breakfast and Awards Ceremony. This event, which is open to the entire campus community and hosted by Staff Council, will take place in the 1962 Room of Crozier-Williams. Together, we will celebrate the hard work and dedication of all staff members. We will also honor our award winners in a special ceremony.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank CC Curtiss, who chaired this year’s selection committee; Ben Parent, chair of Staff Council; Cheryl Miller, assistant vice president for human resources and professional development; and Lorraine Gruber, administrative assistant, for all of their hard work in making this award program successful in its fifth year. I would also like to thank this year’s selection committee—Kimberly Verstandig, vice president for College advancement; Nina Papathanasopoulou, visiting assistant professor of classics; Nick Shaffer, systems information specialist; and Laura Henderson ’18—for their excellent work. I am told that reading through all the tributes was pure pleasure. I look forward to seeing you on Friday.

Yours,
 
Katherine Bergeron
President