Concordia Journal Home > Archives > November 22, 2007 issue >

Donors recognized at awards for undergrads 

Concordia's philanthropists and award-winning students were recognized Monday evening at the Undergraduate Awards Ceremony, held at the Centre Mont Royal. More than 250 people celebrated academic achievement and posthumous dedications that underlined a real sense of community.

Aurèle Cardinal is the president of Groupe Cardinal Hardy architects, which has been involved in many recent Concordia building projects an sponsors a prize in urban studies. He has found Concordia a vibrant place despite its lack of a conventional campus. He and his group want to create a quality learning environment for all Concordia students, both by design and by supporting students directly.

Nick Zacchia, a third-year engineering student who is a recipient of the Norman D. Hébert Entrance Scholarship in Engineering, entertained the audience with his speech. He admitted that before he was an award-winner, he was “working at fast food joints, generally living like a pauper.” After receiving the award, he was able to devote more time to speed skating, where he was quite successful.

Zacchia also met with success as a member of the varsity cross-country running team and was named an Academic All-Canadian by the Canadian Interuniversity Sport, an honour that acknowledges excellence both on the field and in the classroom. He maintains his studies in engineering and philosophy while taking part in an SAE race car competition, participating in Engineers Without Borders and will be entering the robotics contest in the Engineering Games this year. He spoke on behalf of all the students when he thanked the donors for their support, saying, “It's worth so much more than money.”

An award was inducted in memory of David Kreiner Vaillancourt, an active student who died last winter in a ski accident. Kreiner Vaillancourt was a student in the Department of Geography, Planning and the Environment, and a member of the Concordia Alpine Club. The award was established in his memory by his family.

His mother and aunt, former Olympians Laurie and Kathy Kreiner, his sister Angela and other family members, travelled from across Canada, for the ceremony, which was also attended by a large contingent of Kreiner Vaillancourt’s classmates and teammates.

There is no award recipient this year, but the award was inducted nonetheless, because the family wanted Kreiner Vaillancourt’s friends to be able to participate before the class graduates and scatters. The award will go to an eligible member of the Alpine Ski Club or someone within the Geography Department.

The Alex Lawrie Memorial Scholarship was created in memory of a much-loved staff member. It goes to a first-year student with a high GPA who is also involved in soccer or rugby. Lawrie’s friends Joseph Capano, David Gobby, Henry Kovalcik and Darcy Sowden inducted the award and staff hockey players are major contributors.

The bursaries awarded from the funds raised by the Concordia Golf Classic have been renamed to honour George Hanna and Norman Hébert, Jr., in acknowledgement of their contributions as donors, promoters and friendraisers for this annual event. The tournament is about four years old and has raised close to $1 million.

The Shuffle Scholarship is a recurring award and there were 16 recipients this year. It is funded by the annual walkathon of the same name.

The Adopt-a-Student program is still going strong. These are short-term awards, as opposed to endowments, which are permanent. An endowment requires a minimum $10,000 donation, while a three-year Adopt-a-Student award requires a minimum $1,500 donation spread across three years.

The stage was most crowded when it was time to present the awards from the Campaign for the New Millennium Student Contribution Scholarships and Bursaries. About 85 of each scholarships and bursaries were awarded, though not all the recipients were present at the event.

The hosts of the event, Kathy Assayag, Vice-President, Advancement and Alumni Relations and Roger Côté, Associate Vice-President, Enrolment and Student Services, thanked the Undergraduate Scholarship and Award Committee for selecting the winners, the donors for their support and Doug Gardhouse, Administrator, Undergraduate Awards for his hard work.