Student Leaders Take a Bow

05/09/2025
By Ed Brennen

Do you want to market a carnival?

Senior business major Collin Gallagher still remembers seeing the flyer on a bulletin board in the Pulichino Tong Business Center four years ago.

“I do marketing,” thought Gallagher, who decided to pursue the opportunity with the Association of Campus Events (A.C.E.), the student group that plans social activities at UMass Lowell. 

“From there, the rest is history,” said Gallagher, who wound up serving as A.C.E. president his junior and senior years.

At UMass Lowell’s 38th annual Student Leadership Awards ceremony, held recently at University Crossing, Gallagher was recognized as the university’s co-Student Leader of the Year. 

“I put a lot of time and effort into the school, but I didn’t think this would happen,” said Gallagher, a Franklin, Massachusetts, resident who also served as co-president of the UMass Lowell College Democrats and wrote for The Connector student newspaper. Following graduation, he will begin work for a Boston-area event production company.

There are more than 200 student clubs and organizations at UML, and 22 of them (and their leaders) were recognized at the ceremony, which was hosted by the Office of Student Life and Involvement. 

Chancellor Julie Chen applauded all 173 nominees across 16 categories for “making the university a better place.”

“No matter what your background, skills or interests, you provide opportunities for students to come together,” Chen said. “You create an environment where everybody feels seen and part of something. And that's what this university is all about.”

Senior business major Adriana Mendez, president of the Latin American Student Association, was named co-Student Leader of the Year.

A first-generation college student from Washington, D.C., Mendez knew she had to “build a new community from scratch” when she came to UML.

“Getting involved was the way to do that,” said Mendez, a DC-Cap Scholar who became a River Hawk Scholars Academy peer mentor and a Rising 360° peer leader for the Office of Multicultural Affairs. She has an internship lined up after graduation at a Washington nonprofit focused on youth homelessness. 

There were also co-winners for Student Organization of the Year: the Psychology Club and the Dr. Francis T. Talty ’77 Pre-Law Society.

Psychology Club President Gordon Wachira, a senior psychology major originally from Kenya, said the award is meaningful because the club has grown to nearly 300 members after restarting three years ago.

The Pre-Law Society, meanwhile, saw its Mock Trial team advance to the national championship tournament for the first time ever this spring. 

The society’s communications chair, junior political science major Rena McFall, was also named Emerging Student Leader of the Year and was outreach director for the College Democrats, which won the Creative Media and Marketing award.

The award for Outstanding Community Service by a Group went to the Pre-Dental Society, which is led by Sarah Michael, a junior nutritional science major from Rutland, Massachusetts.

“A lot about dentistry is giving back to the community, so we'll go to elementary schools and teach kids how to brush their teeth, or we’ll give out oral hygiene bags at local homeless shelters,” said Michael, who noted that the 30-member club helps aspiring dentists build their applications for dental school.

The Club Sport Officer of the Year award went to Melinda Breest, president of the club softball team, and Trina Tran, who leads the ProtoHype dance team.

Breest, a senior nutritional science major from Ayer, Massachusetts, took the reins of the softball team last fall after its president stepped down and the roster dwindled to nine players. Breest recruited several new players this spring and is leaving it in good hands, she said, as she focuses on her master of public health in epidemiology next year.

“I loved playing on the team and hope to see it grow,” she said. “It’s a great way to keep playing in college without committing to the Division I team.”

Other awards included:

• Greek Member of the Year: Matthew Almeida
• Outstanding Greek Organization of the Year: Kappa Delta Phi N.A.S. Kappa Upsilon 
• Excellence in Cultural Diversity and Advocacy Programming: National Society of Black Engineers
• Excellence in Student Advocacy: Mubarak Ayinla and Lara Serhan
• Innovative Program: Sex Education Bingo by Public Health Club  
• Excellence in Well-Being Programming: Delta Kappa Phi
• Well-Being Champion: Lily Hammar
• Rising River Hawks: South Asian Student Association
• Club Sport of the Year: Club Baseball
• Intramural Sports Championship Cup: Real Football Shots
• Unsung Hero: Aadit Engineer and Hirschfield Ssozi
• Student Organization Advisor of the Year: Assoc. Teaching Prof. Laura Christianson (Accounting Society)