The Alumni Association’s Outstanding Seniors award dates back to 1962 and is presented to two seniors with good academic standing, are active in leadership roles, extracurricular activities, volunteer work and other accomplishments. Awardees exemplify Susquehanna’s traditions of achievement, leadership and service. The full list of recipients can be found here.
Samuel Emmanuel ’21 is a communication arts and French studies double major from Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania.
During his time as Susquehanna, his extracurricular activities have included American Sign Language Club, Circle K, French Club, Hillel and Jewish Life, InterVarsity, Lamentations Gospel Choir, O-Team, Student Government Association, SU SPLASH and WQSU. Samuel has also served as vice president of the Class of 2021 and was inducted into Alpha Lambda Delta, an honor society for first-year students.
From nominator Allie Grill, associate director of employer engagement: Everything that Samuel does is an aspiration of leadership. Similar to his academic experiences, he doesn’t simply check a box, he dives in headfirst. The biggest example of this is his role as vice president of the Class of 2021. Remotely, he coordinated a decentralized Senior Week in short time frame, successfully meeting the expectations of his peers. Samuel’s kindness and community orientation improves the experience of those around. He’s an excellent self-advocate and an advocate of the SU community.
Tessa Rendina ’21 is a global management major from Gambrills, Maryland.
During her time at Susquehanna, her extracurricular activities have included serving as an admission senior intern and membership in Enactus, Sigma Kappa, Student Government Association and women’s soccer and track and field.
From nominator Michaeline Shuman, assistant provost and director of SU’s Career Development Center: Tessa meets the three areas that exemplify the ideals of SU of achievement, leadership and service. Accomplishments include her high GPA, international remote internship, study abroad and research experience in Cape Town, South Africa, and her outstanding work in and for Admission. Through her extensive work with Enactus, Tessa has developed and conducted business and life skills workshops for teens at Selinsgrove’s Regional Engagement Center, volunteered while abroad in Argentina and cares deeply about the welfare of the university and surrounding community.
