Students Chosen As Recipients Of 2025 SUNY Chancellor's Awards for Student Excellence

SUNY Schenectady is pleased to announce that Latasha Rivera, a Paralegal major, and Jasmatie Lutawan, a Computer Repair and Networking major, have been chosen as recipients of the 2025 SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Student Excellence. The Chancellor's Awards recognize students who have demonstrated outstanding achievements and the integration of SUNY excellence within many aspects of their lives in areas such as academics, leadership, campus involvement, community service, or the arts. It is the highest honor bestowed upon a student by the University. Latasha and Jasmatie will be recognized along with Chancellor’s Award recipients from campuses across the state during a special ceremony on April 29 in the Hart Theater at the Egg in Albany.

Latasha Rivera exemplifies excellence, not only as an accomplished student, but as a caring, compassionate Student Worker in the College’s Food Pantry and tireless volunteer in the community.

Latasha has been a Student Worker in the Food Pantry for the past two years, and has taken on the role of training and mentoring new student employees, assisting new pantry visitors in creating online ordering accounts, and representing the Food Pantry in myriad capacities, including meeting with SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr., government representatives from Zambia, the media, prospective students, and local community agencies who tour the Food Pantry. She excels at promoting the Food Pantry as a judgment-free service, making visitors feel welcomed and at-ease, and is an enthusiastic and persuasive recruiter of new Food Pantry visitors.

A first-generation college student, Latasha is the mother of six children, who balances school, work, and her volunteer efforts in the community. She shares her energy, experience, compassion, and dedication to serve others in the community. She has volunteered her time with several organizations who seek to ameliorate basic needs gaps for individuals and families, most notably Schenectady Street Soldiers. Latasha assists with distributing food, clothing and other necessities every Sunday afternoon, outside in a church parking lot, regardless of the weather conditions. She employs her exceptional leadership and communication skills when working with recipients, organizers, donors, and other volunteers as well. Street Soldiers staff rely heavily on Latasha's reliability, exceptional work ethic, kind but firm assertiveness when managing difficult interactions with clients, and her innate knack for effectively and respectfully relating to people from diverse cultural backgrounds and financial circumstances. 

With a GPA of 3.6, Latasha has been named to the Dean’s List and informally tutors her classmates. She is a member of the New York State Paralegal Association. After she graduates in May 2025, Latasha plans to pursue her bachelor’s degree in Political Science at the University at Albany, with the career goal of becoming a lawyer.

Jasmatie Lutawan has not only excelled academically, she has also contributed her time and talents to student organizations on campus, as well as during statewide computing conferences and national legislative programs.

This month, Jasmatie was in Washington D.C., as one of 30 students chosen from institutions across the country to lend her voice and vision to the Council for Opportunity in Education’s (COE) inaugural TRIO Future Leaders Summit, where she learned about the impact of educational policy, networked with top policy experts, and met members of Congress.

On campus, Jasmatie has assisted with career events and daily operations in the Career and Transfer Services Office as a Student Worker. She is a Senator on the Student Government Association and a member of TRIO and the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP). As a campus leader, she has developed strong relationships at every level of the College, from students to administrators. Notably, she was selected to assist with New Student Registration days, where she guided and mentored incoming students, making them feel welcomed at the College.

With a 3.78 GPA, Jasmatie has been named to the President’s List. She actively seeks out ways to engage in academic and experiential learning through the Division of Math, Science, Technology, and Health, including presenting her computer applications at STEM Day and attending professional conferences. In fact, she and Math/Science major Hemmattie Gobind presented their poster “The Programming Alchemist” during the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) New York Celebration of Women in Computing (NYC-WiC) conference last year and were recognized with the Best Poster Award.

After graduating in May, Jasmatie plans to attend SUNY Polytechnic Institute for her B.S/M.S degree in Computer Science. She would like to pursue a career in software development.