Tompkins Cortland Students Honored by SUNY Chancellor

Two Tompkins Cortland Community College students have been recognized with the 2022 Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence by the State University of New York. Matthew Howard-Davis and Paige Innis were among the 180 students from 61 campuses honored at a reception in Albany last week.

"Now more than ever, it is time to celebrate the accomplishments of our students who have helped one another get through this global pandemic and focus on getting the most out of their college education, and this year’s CASE winners are at the top of the class," said SUNY Interim Chancellor Deborah F. Stanley. "It is my great honor to celebrate the fortitude, leadership, and achievements of this year’s winners, and I applaud their hard work and desire to do more for their campuses and fellow students. I, for one, can’t wait to see what they do next.”

Howard-Davis, a resident of Cortland, has been a Dean’s List student while serving on the executive board of the Student Government Association and holding two on-campus jobs. He is an active member of the Faculty-Student Association Board of Directors and is co-chair of its Finance Committee. A digital cinema major, Howard-Davis is an inducted member of the National Society of Leadership and Success and is a chapter executive board member.

Innis (pictured above with Tompkins Cortland Administrator in Charge and Provost Paul Reifenheiser and SUNY Interim Chancellor Deborah Stanley), from Wurtsboro, has excelled academically while serving in multiple leadership roles on campus, including as the student trustee. She has repeatedly been on the Dean’s List and is an inducted member of Phi Theta Kappa and the National Society of Leadership and Success. She holds two on-campus jobs while also being a resident assistant and member of the Student Government Association and the Faculty Student Association. Innis is Liberal Arts and Sciences: General Studies major.

The Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence was created in 1997 to recognize students who have best demonstrated, and have been recognized for, the integration of academic excellence with accomplishments in the areas of leadership, athletics, community service, creative and performing arts, campus involvement, or career achievement.

Each year, SUNY campus presidents establish a selection committee, which reviews the accomplishments of exemplary students. Nominees are then forwarded to the Chancellor’s Office for a second round of review. Finalists are then recommended to the Chancellor to become recipients of the award.