In an event that many consider the most inspiring of the year, 44 students received 52 awards in the annual Student Awards Ceremony in Dalby Hall on Friday night, June 23, 2023, the night before graduation.

The event followed the annual Graduation Picnic, where hundreds of graduating students and their families along with MIU faculty enjoyed Mexican cuisine beneath the trees in front of the Argiro Student Center on a warm, early summer evening.

With Rod Eason, Vice-President of Enrollment and Student Affairs, officiating, the evening began with the Development of Consciousness Awards. These awards recognize students for their regular practice and deep understanding of the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs, honoring them for their personal growth of consciousness and the positive effect they had on the community.

These awards went to Enrique Baker, Elizabeth Foley, Richard Morell, and Dimitrios Karasis (pictured below, with Professor Karen Aoki Kouider presenting).

Next came the awards to the honors graduates — the graduates with the highest grade point averages. See below for the list.

Viktoria Luhaste received the Veda Vyasa Award, given for the most outstanding PhD research, for her study on the beneficial effects of Maharishi AyurVeda treatments. Involving nearly 100 subjects over six weeks, her study found significant health benefits from Maharishi Ayurveda, including reduced anxiety, emotional distress, and depression, reduced fatigue and sleep disturbances, reduced Body Mass Index (BMI), and improved digestion.

Then followed the awards from each academic program. Faculty presenters spoke glowingly of the students’ achievements, while the students spoke movingly about their experiences at MIU.

“I’ve been given something that’s way more than a credential. I’ve been given a certainty that is establishing itself daily in me as sovereignty, wholeness, and love.”
— Victoria Thomas

Victoria Thomas, winning the Outstanding Student Award in the Bachelors of Applied Arts and Sciences program, said, “I am 54 years old and waited 23 years to get my son through college before returning to finish my bachelor’s. The administrative staff here at MIU made it so effortless, and I’m so grateful for the masterful way it unfolded for me.” She added, “I thought I was simply checking off a box of completing my bachelor’s degree. . . . Instead, I’ve been given something that’s way more than a credential. I’ve been given a certainty that is establishing itself daily in me as sovereignty, wholeness, and love. This certainty has dissolved all prior goals, and I can trust that, and that trust is priceless.”

Bojenna Gaquer won the Outstanding Student Award in art and will continue next semester in the MFA program in Studio Art. “I never saw myself going to college,” she said. “I didn’t think I had the brain for it, and now I’m graduating with an award, which is feels really good. I’ve loved my time here at MIU. I love my fellow students and all of my professors, and I’m so excited to continue my education and my creativity here.”

Timothy Kacena, receiving the award in the undergraduate business program., said, “This isn’t really about me or the outstanding student piece. It’s more about the class and the classmates and the professors for constantly pushing each other to be our best. . . . Our class called it the MIU magic. . . . Thank you to MIU for making me a better person, a better husband, a better son, a better friend. That’s what it’s all about. And the connections that we built here.” 

Kendra Morrison, winner of the Outstanding Student Award in Cinematic Arts and New Media, emphasized the value of the community she found here. “Community has been a big theme in my work, and it’s been the main lesson I’ve learned since coming to NYU,” she said. “I thought I would never go to college. I was very proud of that until I found MIU, and something just felt right the first day I came onto campus. I was welcomed by peers who just wanted to create and express the same as I had been wanting to do for so long. And it felt right. We immediately started collaborating on projects. And this was very foreign to somebody who prided themselves on independence. So thank you to MSU for the community that you have cultivated.”

“While much of the modern Western world urges us to go go, go at an ever increasing pace, MIU encourages us to slow down and be still to cultivate that inner spaciousness, prioritize inner peace, and nourish the fertile foundations, the roots of our being.”

— Laura Laboone

Laura Laboone, receiving the award in BA program Creative and Professional Writing, appreciated the focus on going within. “It’s simple yet pivotal, as most life lessons are, and that is just how important rest and rejuvenation are to all aspects of life, but especially the creative process,” she said. “It’s something I obviously hear all the time and knew intellectually but experientially has become very clear in my time here at MIU. While much of the modern Western world urges us to go go, go at an ever increasing pace, MIU encourages us to slow down and be still to cultivate that inner spaciousness, prioritize inner peace, and nourish the fertile foundations, the roots of our being. Simply being immersed in a supportive environment like this is enough to empower anyone to create, in my opinion.”

Imedia Stewart, at 88 years old, won the award in the BFA program in Creative and Professional Writing. “At eighty-eight years old,” said program director Nynke Passi in presenting the award, “she was always the first in class and the first to bring what she learned to her community to inspire others with her passion for life, her keen and poetic observations, deep connection to consciousness, sincere wisdom, and endearing wit.” Ms. Stewart thanked her fellow students. “For two-and-a-half years, making this experience truly unforgettable,” she said, “you have challenged me and supported me in more ways than you could ever know. You even inspired me to feel twenty-five years old instead of eighty-eight.” 

This year’s Alumni Distinction and Service Award went to Tara De Santis, who graduated with honors in media and communication in 2017. She then returned home to Montreal to pursue a career as a singer, songwriter, and producer, performing under the name “Veda.” With her distinctive vocals and lyrics, she has become well known the music industry.

Before coming to MIU, she said, she had family, friends, a rugby team — “Everything was set up, you know, for like a normal, fun life.” But, she said, “I just felt like I needed something more, something I hadn’t found in Canada yet.”

“Three months later, after coming here,” she said, “I took a digital music production class with Cody Olivas. And for me, I just fell in love with music. . . . I knew that I had to create music every day. That was my purpose. I had like an epiphany. . . . Music that is uplifting and positive to the world.”

“I make music, I work in this cutthroat industry. You know, it’s very demanding, but it’s amazing. And I feel like I have an edge because I took a leap of faith. I wanted to explore, and I did. So to all of you, my message is, don’t be afraid. Don’t live in fear. Just do what you’ve got to do. Have fun with life. And explore as much as you can.”

See the full list of award recipients below.

STUDENT AWARDS CEREMONY

Opening remarks – Dr. Rod Eason, Vice President of Enrollment and Student Affairs

DEVELOPMENT OF CONSCIOUSNESS AWARDS
Dr. Dimitrios Karasis
Elizabeth Foley
Richard Morell
Enrique Baker
Presented by Dr. Karen Aoki Kouider, Director of the MIU Transcendental Meditation Center

HONORS GRADUATES

SUMMA CUM LAUDE
Shreya Sood (Valedictorian)
Laura Laboone (Salutatorian)
David Machado Sanchez
Meghan Pflepsen-Zender
Summer Silva

MAGNA CUM LAUDE 
Ambiya Binta
Jordan Curcio
Sean Nestor
Victoria Thomas
Jenna Doran
Moriah Harris

CUM LAUDE
Rose Krajnik
Cassandra Ellner
Alexis Hardin
All presented by Dr. Vicki Alexander Herriott, Dean of Faculty

VEDA VYASA AWARD
Dr. Viktoria Luhaste
Presented by Dr. Fred Travis, Dean of the Graduate School

APPLIED ARTS AND SCIENCES
Victoria Thomas
Presented by Matthew Beaufort, Associate Professor of Humanities

Alexis Hardin
Presented by Dr. Cathy Gorini, Professor of Mathematics

ART
Nayiah McPhaul
Presented by Genevra Bell, Assistant Professor of Art

Bojenna Gaquer
Presented by Gyan Shrosbree, Associate Professor of Art

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

BA PROGRAM
Timothy Kacena
Presented by Dr. Vicki Alexander Herriott, Dean of Faculty

MBA IN SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS
Meagen Anderson
Richard Wolfson
Presented by Dr. Ayako Huang, Department Chair and Director, MBA Sustainable Business Program

MBA ERP PROFESSIONALS PROGRAM
Ramsharan Nepal 
Glynis Baillies
Presented by Naveed Abbasi, Director, MBA ERP Professionals Program

PHD PROGRAM
Dr. Ayesha Sengupta
Presented by Dr. Dennis Heaton, Dean of the College of Business Administration

CINEMATIC ARTS AND NEW MEDIA
Jordan Curcio
Presented by Amine Kouider, Department Chair

Kendra Morrison
Presented by Cody Olivas, Assistant Professor of Cinematic Arts

MFA IN SCREEENWRITING PROGRAM
Ajai Tripathi
Presented by Matthew Kalil, Assistant Professor of Screenwriting

COMPUTER SCIENCE
Ayaleneh Yilma
Presented by Dr. Anne Dow, Chair of the Mathematics Department

Azamit Belew
Presented by Thao Vu, Instructor of Computer Science

Ahmed Mokhtar Abdelgawad Ibrahim Albahrawy
Presented by Obinna Kalu, Assistant Professor of Computer Science

Quoc Vinh Pham
Presented by Peter Vonderheide, Associate Dean of Faculty for Computer Science

CREATIVE AND PROFESSIONAL WRITING

BA PROGRAM
Laura Laboone
Presented by Leah Waller, Department Co-chair and Undergraduate Program Director

BFA PROGRAM
Almedia Stewart
Presented by Nynke Passi, Department Co-chair and Director of the MFA in Creative Writing

MAHARISHI VEDIC SCIENCE

BA PROGRAM
Genesis Buitrago
Presented by Dr. Karen Aoki Kouider, Undergraduate Program Director

MASTER’S PROGRAM
Elizabeth Foley
Presented by Dr. Patricia Saunders, Graduate Program Director

Nancy Gibson
Presented by Dr. Rod Eason, Vice President of Enrollment and Student Affairs

MA PROGRAM / ONLINE
Julie Zavaro
Presented by Dr. Keith Wegman, Online Graduate Program Director

PHD PROGRAM
Dr. Dimitrios Karasis
Presented by Dr. Sue Brown, Associate Professor of Maharishi Vedic Science

MATHEMATICS
Seth Hillsberry
Presented by Dr. Cathy Gorini, Professor of Mathematics

PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM – on campus
Gabie Raydan
Presented by Dr. Liis Mattik, Associate Chair and Dean of Undergraduate Studies

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM – online
Ambiya Binta
Presented by Natasha Durand, Online Undergraduate Program Director

MASTER’S PROGRAM
Bhuvaneswari Ramalingam
Presented by Dr. Paul Morehead, Director of the Maharishi Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine Program

Chin Ting Mann
Presented by Andrew Stenberg, Instructor of Physiology and Health

Dr. Shraddha Ravani
Presented by Robert Schneider, Dean of the College of Integrative Medicine

SUSTAINABLE AND REGENERATIVE LIVING 
Shreya Sood
Presented by Mark Stimson, Department Chair

REGENERATIVE AND ORGANIC AGRICULTURE
Jennifer Nunez
Presented by Tyler Wilfley, Undergraduate Program Director

Denise Cagley-Jefferson 
Presented by Jodi Hill, Assistant Professor of Regenerative Organic Agriculture

ALUMNI DISTINCTION AND SERVICE AWARD
Tara De Santis 
Presented by Brad Mylett, Vice President of Development

PARENTS AWARD
To the parents of all our graduating students
Presented by Dr. John Hagelin, President