Celebration of Learning awards
Campus-wide awards
Center for the Study Of Ethics Annual Essay Contest
1st Place: Finley Snyder, “Deportation and Death: Examining the Second Trump Administration’s Immigration Policy Through the Lens of Just War Theory”
2nd Place: Georgi Feigley, “Pacifism and Negligence in Our Modern Era Ignoring Crises for It Being Political”
3rd Place: Brian Felleson, “Exceptional by Design: How American Identity Shapes Global Power and Prosperity”
Honorable Mention 1: Primo Moreno, “Ethical Issues in the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence”
Honorable Mention 2: Traidan Hier, “Materialism: What Do We Lose by Focusing on Having More?”
Nils Hasselmo Award for Academic Pursuit
Gaia Splendor and Leroy Gawu-Mensah
Tredway Library Prize for First-Year Research
Derek Truong (winner) and Selina Osebre Yawson (honorable mention)
Arthur E. and Dorothy Dahl Leadership Scholarship
Dipti Sharma
Freistat Awards
Freistat Student Language Award: Sophia Mitchell, Ainsley Kness, Vanessa Gerardo
Freistat Center Peace & Justice Studies Award: Rachel Barry, Olivia Bernius, Nikola Jensen
Freistat Center Faculty Conference Awards: Jeff Mettler and Lena Hann
Freistat Center Faculty Research Awards: Umme Al-Wazedi, Rachel Lockart, Naveen Kumar Jain
2026 Texas Medical Center Summer Research Internship
Soulaima Ben Ismail, Lee Charles, Tenzin Coedon, Cristina Costa, Yasmine El Mezouari, Felicita Giorgia, Alexis Finley, Kevin Flannery, My Ha, Huy Nguyen, Alyssa Mowry, Ximenia Osorio, Nepa Shahi, Avery Spacek, Nhi Tran Phuong Phan, Jordyn Swanson
SAGA Art And Literary Magazine Awards
Art Award
1st Place: Bethany Yanchick
2nd Place: Claire Dietz
3rd Place: Addon Rogers
Honorable Mention: Claire Dietz
Prose Award
1st Place: Gaia Splendore
2nd Place: Vivian Bornhoeft
3rd Place: Vivian Bornhoeft
Honorable Mention: Elaina Adlfinger
Poetry Award
1st Place: Rebekah Kalmbach
2nd Place: George Young
3rd Place: Pez Owens
Honorable Mention: Larissa Hope
Barbara Anderson Miller Award for Best All-Around Piece In The Magazine: Rebekah Kalmbach
Cover Art Award: Alexandra Bohac
Honor Council Service Recognition
Ben Aumuller, Emma Blezien, Ian Empen, Nimeni Getahun, Marisa Gilio, Jaxson Hicks, Sierra Jelinek, Joey Maish, Paloma Martinez Palomares, Adi Walker
Audre Lorde Writing Prize
Long And Short Analytical Essays
1st Place: Queer Okayness & The Modernist Influence: A New Form of Queer Poetics in Ocean Vuong’s Night Sky with Exit Wounds” by Sophia Behnke (Instructor: Kiki Kosnick)
2nd Place (Tie): “Addiction and Dalits: The Impact of India’s CastSystem” by Ava Jackson (Instructor: Umme Al-wazedi)
2nd Place (Tie): “Transnational Surrogacy: Considering the Full Impact” by Morin Windle (Instructor: Umme Al-wazedi)
Honorable Mention: “Sexed and Silenced: How The Round House Signals Against Rape Culture” by Gaia Splendore (Instructor: David Crowe)
Creative Expression Entries
1st Place: “Iphigenia’s Blood, Clytemnestra’s Burden” by Alyssa Ogrodny (Instructor: V. Phipps)
2nd Place: “velcro” by Sarah Welker (Instructor: Anne Heide)
Vazquez-Valarezo Poetry Award
1st Prize: Madeline Hutchinson — “Liberty”
2nd Prize: Wren Thul — “Watching the Screen”
3rd Prize: Finley Snyder — “To my Queer Siblings”
Pi Kappa Lambda Class Honors Awards
First-year — Melody Coffer, Lucy Wold
Sophomore — Kade Cornn, Ella Hansen, Haven Perdomo
Junior — Stephanie Skrabacz
Departmental awards
Business Administration
Business Administration Graduates with Honors
Mark Addison, Sasha Botsul, Joshua Bohrer, Hayden Boushele, Andrew Bryant, Grant Carkner, Nicolas Delgado Rodriguez, Emma Fagla, Michael Garland, Katherine Gass, Sonam Gurung
International Business Administration Graduates with Honors
Tomas Jimenez-Meifren Mamarbachi, Holland (Hattie) Timerman
Swanson Scholarship
Mohared Benbrahim, Lydia W. Benesh, Samyam Bista, Alaina Carter, Lindsay M. Debuhr, Santiago Diaz, Brian D. Felleson, Jaden R. Gocken, Nguyen T. Hoang, Huyen T. Nguyen, Fatima Martinez Gallegos, Francesca Mastrangeli, Mai P. Nguyen, Simeon Ommen, Luke J. Petersen, James G. Pigoni, Linh H. Vo, Leah C. Wieland, Jaymee L. Vollmer, Tommy Weber, Landon D. Wierenga
Montgomery Scholarship
Cailin Ambrosia, Ceris Askelsen, Stephanie Beley, Will Bussan, Celeste Calderon-De Haro, Alicia Fontenla Llaudes, Grace Gillespie, Bethel Girma, Giselle Koonce, Imane Mansouri, Ben Munoz-Ripley, Wyatt Nelson, Vy Nguyen Phan, Natalie Perra, Aiden Salcedo, Zahra Waqar, Jacob Wolf
Communication Sciences and Disorders
Donald C. Davis Scholarship: Rhiannon Allison, Sophia Evans, Ava Lannen
Student Research Award: Liam Christian, Sutton Gaines
Economics
Thomas C. Montgomery Scholarships: Alden Brinkmeier, Ryan Crowe, Jorge Gordillo-Ramirez, Josh Lim, Fatima Martinez-Gallegos, Simeon Omme
Bruce R. Milligan Scholarships: Benjamin Buhl, Enkhjin Byambadorj, Sofia Cheng Morales, James Davis, Nhi (Linh) Nguyen
English
Tom and Wanda Hanson Scholarship in English Studies: Olivia Julian
Math and Computer Science
Pi Mu Epsilon Honors Society (PME): Kassidy Anderson, Luke Dalzell, Aidan Hancock, Ian Palmroos, Sienna Ridgley, Alexander Sell, Riordan Smith
Al-Khwarizmi Honors Society (aK): Sean Abracia-Wendel, Zekarias Asaminew, Lucas Clayton, Robert Dickerson, Leroy Gawu-Mensah, Benjamin Georgia, Aidan Hancock, Mackenzie Lauridsen, Benedict Milner, Primo Moreno, Parker Morrissey, Lucas Rettig, Hoang Trieu, Abdul-Salam Zakaria
Music
Webster Vocal Competition
The Webster Vocal Competition was established through a memorial fund in honor of former
Augustana student and film industry musician Steven Boone Webster. The 2025 competition
was adjudicated by Professor Chad Sonka, Iowa State University.
Classical, 1st and 2nd Year
Winner: Chloe Knobloch
Runner up: Thom Elliott
Honorable mentions: Maya Cronfel and Adele Bartlein
Classical, 3rd and 4th Year
Winner: Sidney Underwood
Runner-up: Emily Churak
Honorable mentions: Georgi Feigley and Madeline Hutchinson
Musical Theatre, 1st and 2nd Year
Winner: Maya Cronfel
Runner-up: Johana Neumann
Honorable mentions: Jillian Jones and Chloe Knobloch
Musical Theatre, 3rd and 4th Year
Winner: Brennan Hampton
Runner-up: Jensen Stoneking
Honorable mentions: Sidney Underwood and Emily Churak
Louise Nathanson Scholarship: Joe Mello, James Mihevc, Johnny Drew, James Vargas, Kade Cornn
Ruth E. Hagelin Scholarship: Lauren Dobbels
Physics, Engineering, and Astronomy
Sigma Pi Sigma
Seniors: Luke Dalzell, Abigail Kimber, Andy Nguyen, Kazi Uzayr Razin
Juniors: Tara Armas, Maranda Bargren, Emma Biskie, Colleen Chiavola, Lili Leatherman
Religion
Floyd and Louise Anderson Award For Excellence In the Study of Religion: Micah Bischoff
Scandinavian Studies
Excellence In Swedish – Beginning Level: Estellah Bognar
Excellence In Swedish – Intermediate/Advanced Level: Joey Loven (Senior)
Outstanding Senior in Scandinavian Studies: Kat-Jean Glusick (Senior)