ESU Announces University Leadership and Service Award Winners

Graduating seniors Shelby Jimcosky and Leila Bouchekouk have spent their years at East Stroudsburg University with a desire to lead and serve others.

Shelby Jimcosky, a political science major from Scranton, Pa., was awarded the University Leadership Award for the 2019-20 academic year. Leila Bouchekouk, a chemistry major from East Stroudsburg, Pa., was awarded the University Service Award.

The University Leadership and Service Awards are the highest non-academic honor a graduating senior can receive for their work as a leader in extra-curricular activities on campus or in participation in activities and services off campus. To be eligible, applicants must have held office or demonstrated participation in a minimum of three clubs, activities, and committees, have a grade point average of 2.6, and be in good standing.

Jimcosky served as the president of ESU’s feminist alliance, vice president of the political science club, and academic affairs chair for the Student Government Association. She was a member of active minds, the college democrats, Sycamore community board, the Provost Leadership Team, charity water, and the University Wide Senate. Jimcosky was also the student on the PASSHE Redesign Team as part of the Development Education Vision sub-team. She worked as a note taker, reader and scribe for OASIS, a Sycamore Suites desk worker, a tutor, a peer academic skills consultant, and a student worker in the political science department. She presented in the Student Research and Creative Activity Symposium on a panel discussion about xenophobia and racism in America, and was nominated for the Ali-Zaidi Award for Academic Excellence.

“I have found that I alone cannot quell the anxieties of my peers and I cannot advocate and accommodate every student single-handedly; however, I can lead my peers to do the right thing,” Jimcosky said. “I can instill hard work, perseverance and dedication in my younger peers and lead by example.”

Bouchekouk served as president of the Student Government Association, president of Rotaract, vice president of the pre-medicine club, and community service chair of the health club. She was also a member of the Spanish club, chemistry club, honors student association, college diabetes network, colleges against cancer, National Council of Negro Women. and MedLife. Bouchekouk was the entertainment chair for relay for life, the founder and chair of the diabetes coalition, president of the Student Activity Association board of directors, and an executive committee member of the University Wide Senate. She is a member of the Stroudsburg Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, a senior official in hosting an annual summer program called Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, and she received the Monroe County Women Champion of Peace and Nonviolence award by the Monroe County Women’s Commission.

“I am a first-generation American and a first-generation college student. Being the oldest, I feared that the cost of higher education would impact my sibling’s ability in pursuing the same route,” Bouchekouk said. “But I am so glad to graduate from the university with the full embodiment of what it means to be a Warrior.”

ESU conferred 1,174 degrees for undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students on May 9, 2020.

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