Established by the Ursuline Institute and continued by the College, the annual awards honor those students who best embody the Ursuline philosophy of Serviam (I will serve) and support the College’s mission of education for service.
In presenting the awards, Vice President for Mission & Identity Dr. Joan E. Bailey said, “Today’s recipients join previous Serviam Award recipients by exemplifying the Gospel call to help those in need: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, sheltering the stranger, clothing the naked, visiting the imprisoned and the sick. It is by service to those in need that humanity will find the road to Peace.”
This year’s recipients are:
Graduate School: Iesha Ferguson
Ms. Ferguson volunteers in a case management program, La Puerta (South Bronx), for sheltered women seeking housing. She created and currently facilitates The Empowerment Group for Girls (ages 10-14) at Graham Windham Foster Care Services for Families and Children on 127 St, Harlem. Ms. Ferguson also serves on the After School Youth and Development Committee at Graham Windham. As an expression of
her interest in building up the community, Iesha participates regularly in community outreach by providing food for the homeless and in the Toys for Tots Program in Harlem.
A resident of New Rochelle and the mother of three children, Ms. Ferguson balances family life, a full-time position in a foster care agency, as well as her role as a Graduate Student in CNR’s Master’s Program in Mental Health Counseling. Iesha is currently completing this semester’s 300 hour clinical internship at City Cares, Inc., a multi-faceted agency in Harlem, serving persons with mental illness, substance abuse, and severe environmental stressors.
School of New Resources: Christopher Foye, Brooklyn Campus
Christopher Foye started the Christopher S. Owens Foundation in honor of his son who was shot and killed by a stray bullet on April 26, 2009. The Christopher S. Owens Foundation is a non-profit organization that believes in stopping the violence, especially gun violence, in marginalized neighborhoods. The Foundation provides youth with community resources, financial literacy programs, alternatives to violence via annual basketball tournaments, job creation programs, internships, and empowerment programs to improve the development and quality of their lives.
As director and producer at BRIC Art Media, he has also created a platform through the foundation’s website, film and television to give victims and survivors of gun violence opportunity to tell their stories in order to decrease gun violence across the nation.
School of Nursing: Alka Kurian
Alka Kurian serves her peers, community agencies, and health organizations, locally and internationally. She does this through information sharing, mentoring, and organizing other students to take action, particularly in her role as president of the CNR Student Nurses Association, coordinating events such as the coat drive, blood drive, and health education programs for students. Alka has also engaged in fundraising for various causes: fundraising for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer and Nothing But Nets which provides netting to people in Africa to protect against mosquito-borne malaria. She teaches others, including basic computing skills to senior citizens. She supports fellow students through regular messages that she posts on the student website, communicating important events and opportunities to help them grow and succeed. Many students have expressed their gratitude about her outreach and sponsoring various events to help them, such as summer externships and setting up mentor connections for them. She has attended the Nurse Advocacy Forum for novice nurses/new grads to help establish ongoing relationships and connections between nursing alums and current students.
School of Arts & Sciences: Tazmin Uddin
As a community member of the Islamic Center at NYU, Tazmin Uddin has participated in fundraising events for the East Africa famine (2011), East Africa water crisis (2012), and campaigns raising funds for Syrian refugees, those who have been displaced by the revolution taking place in Syria (2012) and has joined with them in attending social justice events, rallies, and protests.
As an intern at CAIR-NY, she worked closely with victims of discrimination and lawyers in order to resolve these issues, documenting hate crimes, while working closely with the Civil Rights manager to find ways to decrease factors contributing to these situations. One event included an anti-bullying workshop geared toward teenagers and included a presentation which taught individuals their Constitutional rights.
As a Peer Minister, she has served as a listening ear to peers, while acting as an ambassador for her faith, gone on the Midnight Run, helped with social justice awareness, nationally and internationally and worked with Campus Ministry during the 9/11 ten-year memorial service and the Peace Walk on campus, which ended with the blessing of the Peace Pole. She co-presented at and helped organize the 2012 “Take Back the Night” event, which sought to raise awareness on issues surrounding domestic and sexual violence.
The first Catholic college for women in New York State, The College of New Rochelle was founded in 1904 by the Ursuline Order. Today, it comprises the all-women School of Arts & Sciences, and three schools which admit women and men: the School of New Resources (for adult learners), the School of Nursing and the Graduate School. The main campus of the College is located in lower Westchester County, 16 miles north of New York City. The College maintains five other campus locations in New York City. Visit the College’s website at www.cnr.edu
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