Each year, MacEwan University honours members of our graduating classes with awards for outstanding academic achievement and commitment to building their campus community.
Here are the award recipients being recognized at the Fall 2024 Convocation ceremonies.
President’s Medal for Academic Excellence and Student Leadership
The President’s Medal recognizes students for their exemplary combination of academic achievement and contribution to the betterment of MacEwan University. Recipients of this medal demonstrate the best qualities of a MacEwan student by maintaining a high grade point average while demonstrating leadership through active participation in university-wide committees, groups, organizations or extra-curricular activities.
SAMANTHA DANCEY
Bachelor of Science, Honours Biological Sciences
President's Medal for Academic Excellence and Student Leadership – Degree
A defining moment of my time at MacEwan happened when I got really sick during the spring semester of my second year while I was taking organic chemistry. I ended up missing the last two weeks of class (which is a lot during a spring semester), and somehow still managed a B+ after teaching myself a third of the course. After that, if I’m ever doubting myself, I remind myself that if I can teach myself organic chemistry while not having a fully functional brain, I can literally do anything.
I am incredibly passionate about cellular and molecular biology, but I also recognize that there are systemic barriers that prevent a lot of people from pursuing or succeeding in the field. So, I have become even more passionate about making education and labs more accessible. My introduction to research in this area was with Dr. Melissa Hills, who also was my honours supervisor. She included me in her ongoing project that focuses on applying Universal Design for Learning to biology lab learning to improve accessibility for students, especially those with disabilities. Participating in this project changed my trajectory, and now I am pursuing a master’s in sociology at U of A, working with Nêhiyawak (Plains Cree) scholar Dr. Paulina Johnson to research Indigenous Science and natural science laboratories.
I first met Dr. Johnson while she was teaching anthropology at MacEwan (she now teaches sociology at U of A). One day after class, I was talking with a classmate about how we both wished there was something we could do to help Dr. Johnson out because we saw the important role she plays in her community. The next day, I got an email from her asking me to volunteer on her new podcast “The Auntie Is In,” which aims to share cultural and academic knowledge with people who don’t have the same access to community. That was almost three years ago, and now I am working on the podcast’s third season with some of the best people I have ever met. Every day I strive to be a model of allyship with Indigenous peoples.
I believe that Indigenizing education, science and research laboratories will make them more accessible for everyone, especially people like me with disabilities.
Dean’s Medal for Academic Excellence
The Dean’s Medal is each faculty or school’s highest academic honour. Each dean may award one medal to a graduating student in a certificate or diploma program and one medal to a graduating student in a degree program. Medal recipients are recognized by the dean of their faculty for their exemplary success in meeting the learning challenges and academic requirements of their programs of study.
- Neal Gordon Hamacher, Bachelor of Science, Computer Science
- Mark Alexander Ellis, Bachelor of Applied Human Service Administration
- Kristen Quigley, Hearing Aid Practitioner Diploma
- Inara Amlani, Bachelor of Science in Nursing
- Vanessa Trasmonte, Bridge to Canadian Nursing Certificate
- Kaeli Lauren Kristensen, Bachelor of Commerce, Legal Studies in Business
- Alicia Nicole Bertram, Travel and Tourism Diploma
- Su-Juan Suzuanne Burwash, Bachelor of Design
- Erika Rietz, Public Relations Diploma
- Hannah Mackenzie Chadwick Dube, Office Assistant, Medical Certificate