Jag Women Rock! Awards bring staff, students, and faculty alike together to celebrate.
Thursday, 07 15 2021
Texas A&M University-San Antonio’s hosted its third annual Jag Women Rock! Awards at the end of National Women’s History Month. The awards are designed to highlight some of this past year’s outstanding female alumni, current students, faculty, and staff. Ten awards were handed out, all named after remarkable women of notoriety, from A&M-SA’s own Dr. Cynthia Teniente-Matson to philanthropist Oprah Winfrey.
Nominees were submitted by their peers to the Student Involvement Committee and were presented with awards during a ceremony on March 28 on-campus and broadcasted on Facebook.
Winners:
The Malala Yousafzai Award - Karissa Mitchem
The Sandra Oh Award - Yanellie Chapa
The Melissa Sanchez Award - Victoria Garcia
The Oprah Winfrey Award - Julianne Garcia
The Dr. Cynthia Teniente-Matson Awards - Shahla Nadem-Mollaei
The Dr. Maria Hernandez Ferrier Award - Megan Pope & Michelle Anguiano
The Michelle Obama Award - Allie Beedle
The Shonda Rhimes Award - Isabella Rodriguez
The JK Rowling Award - Gemma Cruz Cantero
The Sheryl Sandberg - Hannah Dunn
View all the fun event photos here!
The Oprah Winfrey Award is given to an A&M-SA senior who has left her mark on campus. Everyone has only great things to say about her effort into the A&M-SA community throughout her enrollment. This year’s recipient, Julianne Garcia, could not be more honored. Garcia said, “I’ve always felt supported by the university during my four years, but that moment topped it all. That ceremony is in honor of Women’s History Month and the fact that we hold an event like the Jag Women Rock! Awards shows me that the university cares about me as an individual and minorities in general. It goes hand in hand with them celebrating our heritage months. That makes students feel special, wanted, and seen.”
Dr. Matson’s closing speech remarked on the importance of shining moments like these despite the challenging past year. Matson said, “great things always happen when women come together, and I’ve seen moments of that greatness in the amazing nominees.”