May 20, 2021

Susquehanna University’s Alumni Association honored two graduates in the Class of 2021 with its Outstanding Senior Award.

Outstanding Seniors in the Class of 2021 are Samuel Emmanuel, a communication arts and French studies double major from Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, and Tessa Rendina, a global management major from Gambrills, Maryland.

“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,” said nominator Allie Grill, associate director of employer engagement. “The biggest example of this is his role as vice president of the Class of 2021. Remotely, he coordinated a decentralized Senior Week in a short timeframe, successfully meeting the expectations of his peers. Samuel’s kindness and community orientation improve the experience of those around him. He’s an excellent self-advocate and an advocate of the SU community.”

During his time as Susquehanna, Emmanuel’s 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 was also inducted into Alpha Lambda Delta, an honor society for first-year students.

Rendina also engaged in a variety of activities on campus, including serving as an admission senior intern and membership in Enactus, Sigma Kappa, Student Government Association and women’s soccer and track and field.

“Tessa’s accomplishments include her high GPA, remote international internship, study abroad and research experience in Cape Town, South Africa, and her outstanding work in and for admission,” said Michaeline Shuman, assistant provost and director of SU’s Career Development Center. “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.”

The Alumni Association’s Outstanding Seniors Award dates 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.