Your 2022 Kate Hevner Mueller Award Winners (S-Z)

Kate Hevner Mueller served Indiana University from 1937 to 1969 as Dean of Women, Senior Counselor for Women, and Professor of Education. Dr. Mueller was a national pioneer for women professionals and developed the Master’s Program in College Student Personnel (Higher Education and Student Affairs) at Indiana University in the early 1950s. The Kate Hevner Mueller Senior Awards were established in 2013 to honor IU seniors who have proven leadership on campus both inside and outside of the classroom and who have improved the IU community through their presence.

This year, Indiana University has selected 29 outstanding recipients for the Kate Hevner Mueller Outstanding Senior Award. In this article, we congratulate Anoosha Sri, Greta Stephenson, Nicholas Stevens, Sha’Tearaney Suttle, Ruhan Syed, Easan Venkat, and Claire Wilhelm for their ability to represent Dr. Mueller’s essential goals of the university: to promote intellect, develop personality, and inspire citizenship and leadership to all students.

Award Winners:

Anoosha Sri
Greta Stephenson
Nicholas Stevens
Sha’Tearaney Suttle
Ruhan Syed
Madeline Easan Venkat
Claire Wilhelm

 Anoosha Sri

Anoosha is earning a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience and Psychology with minors in Biology, Chemistry, and French from the College of Arts and Sciences. Anoosha is a Hutton Honors Scholar, a Hudson and Holland Scholar, and has been inducted into four honor societies, including Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest academic honor society for the Arts and Sciences. As for campus involvement, Anoosha worked as an undergraduate teaching assistant for the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences for the last two years and served on both the Student United in Creating Critical, Equitable Education, and the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education student advisory boards. On-campus, Anoosha has been involved with several organizations, including the African American Dance Company, the Brain Exercise Initiative, the UNi.SON (University Students United by Sound), and Chemistry Club (where she currently serves as president).

Anoosha has also been involved in research at IU. Through the Emerging Scholars Research Experience for Undergraduate Women program, she had the opportunity to work in the Second Language Acquisition and Sentence Processing Lab – under the guidance of Dr. Kyle Swanson and Dr. Laurent Dekydtspotter – studying how native English speakers and native French speakers allocate neurocognitive resources during English sentence processing. She also worked on a project studying neurodegenerative symptoms in relation to the NMNAT2 protein through the Lu Laboratory, under the guidance of Dr. Hui-Chen Lu and ZhenXian Niou, a Chemistry Ph.D. candidate at IU. 

Acknowledgments

When considering who she would like to dedicate her achievements to at IU, Anoosha said:

[I dedicate this achievement], as with everything else, to my parents, who unconditionally support me in all my endeavors and always motivate me to do my best. I’d also like to express my gratitude to the IU faculty and staff that have guided my journey, especially Dr. Kendra Bunner, Baba Stafford, Dr. Hui-Chen Lu, and, of course, my wonderful advisors Kim Ross and Mimi Attenoukon.  My final thanks go out to her IU family and all of my classmates, supporters, and friends. Thank you for all of the memories, the encouragement, and your love; I will treasure it always.”

 Greta Stephenson

Greta is earning a Bachelor of Education in Secondary Education from the School of Education with a minor in Spanish. Greta is a Lilly Endowment Community Scholar and has received honors and awards from the School of Education, the Hutton Honors College, and the Department of Mathematics. 

Greta has challenged herself academically by engaging in unique, international educational experiences to help prepare herself for her teaching career. She traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico where she taught lessons to support the students’ English language development and built her personal teaching philosophy. She is currently in Cork, Ireland, where she will complete two months of student teaching in a secondary school teaching math. 

On campus, Greta founded Women in Math (where she now serves as President) and served as Treasurer for the Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society. Indiana State Teachers Association’s (ISTA) Aspiring Educators program. This past November, Greta also had the opportunity to speak virtually at the Good Teaching Conference for ISTA, where she encouraged teachers to include more inclusive language in the classroom. 

Acknowledgments

Greta named several critical figures, communities, and organizations that made her success at IU possible:

I am grateful for the support of my peers, teachers, family, and mentors who have helped me grow academically and personally into the strongest educator that I can be as I head into my teaching career. They have also helped support my positive campus involvement, which I hope and anticipate will resonate in the IU community long after I am gone… [Additionally,] the support [provided by the Lilly Endowment and Lilly Scholars Network] has given me the opportunity to experience the courses and international opportunities that have led and will continue to lead to my personal and academic growth.”

 Nicholas Stevens

Nicholas is earning a Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Management and Policy from the O’Neill School of Public & Environmental Affairs (SPEA). On-campus, Nicholas served as president of Indiana University’s Student Athletic Board. Under his leadership, and with the support of the entire organization, they won the 2020-2021 Community Building Award and contributed to student attendance records at numerous IU Athletics events. Nicholas is a member of the Beta Sigma Psi fraternity. Academics play a part in Nicholas’s success at IU. As an honors student at SPEA, he has been named an IU Founders Scholar and made the O’Neill School of Public & Environmental Affairs Dean’s List. 

Acknowledgments

Nicholas would like to thank his mom, dad, and brother for all of their constant love, support, and encouragement — as well as his grandparents and extended family for helping him become who he is today. He also said,

Thank you to all of my friends for their help in navigating through life and for always being around to help with whatever academic or personal things were going on.”

Lastly, he would like to thank the good Lord for making him a Hoosier.

 Sha’Tearaney Suttle

Sha’Tearaney is earning a Bachelor of Science in Law & Public Policy with a minor in Human Development and Family Studies from the O’Neill School of Public & Environmental Affairs. Sha’Tearaney is a member of the Chi Alpha Epsilon Honors Society, recognize the academic achievements of students admitted to colleges and the universities through non-traditional criteria. In the O’Neill School of Public Environment Affairs, she served as a teaching assistant, a student ambassador, and as a coordinator for the Office of Recruitment, where she directed tours for new students. 

Her extracurricular leadership experiences include serving as both a Residential Assistant for Forest Residence Hall for the past two years and as President and Historian of the Gamma Nu Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. In addition, she served as President of the Student Executive Board of the Pre-Law Division of the Black Law Student Association IU, and held multiple leadership roles within the Groups Scholar Program.

Acknowledgments

When reflecting back on who she’d like to thank for this award, Sha’Tearaney said:

Thank you to all the people who have nominated me for this award, and to the people who have guided me and motivated me throughout my journey at IU! I am so blessed and grateful!”

 Ruhan Hussain Syed

Ruhan is earning a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a LAMP Honors Certificate and a minor in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures from the College of Arts & Sciences. Ruhan had the opportunity to be a Foreign Language Area Studies Scholar within the Islamic Studies department where he conducted research on the role of western foreign policy in the contemporary politics and economies of the Muslim world. Ruhan has applied the skills he has gained at IU in his various internships with OBAT Helpers in Indianapolis, the Blue Lab in Boston, and as a Congressional Leadership Development Fellow in Congressman André Carson’s Washington D.C. office. 

On-campus, Ruhan served as Student Body Vice President of the IU Student Government (IUSG) from 2020 to 2021, and was part of the first Jewish-Muslim student body president/vice president pairing in the Big Ten. As Student Body Vice President, he helped establish a campus-wide Interfaith Prayer and Reflection Space, increased kosher and halal dining options on campus, permanently eliminated the Drop/Add fee for class registration, and has continued working on a food insecurity project alongside the Division of Student Affairs and Provost’s office. In addition to his IUSG work, Ruhan has been Treasurer of the Muslim Student Association, Undersecretary-General of Strategy for Indiana Model UN, Parliamentarian of the IU Funding Board, and Senior Advisor for the Palestine Solidarity Committee, amongst other roles. Overall, Ruhan has focused his work on increasing the role of students in the university’s shared governance structure.

Acknowledgments

Ruhan is beyond grateful to all the students, faculty, staff, and administrators he’s worked with throughout his time at IU:

To Dr. Sinno, Dr. Afsaruddin, Dr. Spang, and Dr. Walbridge: you have all been amazing teachers that have given me lessons that extend well beyond the classroom. To Mara Dahlgren, Kelly Kish, Provost Robel, Dean Dave, and the Division of Student Affairs staff: I know my approach to campus issues has not always made sense, but your patience and guidance have been priceless. Finally, to my fellow student leaders who have kept me grounded and focused: the list is endless, but your [collective] impact has been deeply felt.”

 Easan Venkat

Easan is earning a Bachelor of Science in Business Economics and Public Policy from the Kelley School of Business. During Easan’s time at IU, he served on the Board of Aeons, a 13-member board of students selected by former President McRobbie chosen to research and analyze strategic challenges and present recommendations and conclusions to relevant high-level administrators. He gave numerous tours to prospective students as a student ambassador. Easan is most proud of a podcast he started on campus called Careers101, which explores and debunks the logistics behind various career ventures (like a Chicago police officer or presidential campaign advisor). Easan has also studied abroad in Greece, Costa Rica, and Budapest. His academic involvement includes the Kelley and Hutton Honors programs, the Kelley Consulting Workshop, and corporate social responsibility research with Professor Dionne Nickerson. 

Acknowledgments

Easan would like to thank his parents and family for all of their continuous support of his educational ambitions. He would also like to thank the numerous professors and faculty that have made a lifelong impact on his long-term career aspirations. Finally, he would like to thank all of the friends that have helped him work on classwork and make a real impact on Indiana University!

 Claire Wilhelm

Claire is earning a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the College of Arts & Sciences. On campus, Claire has served as the President of the Panhellenic Association at IU. she continued initiatives to improve inclusion and equity in sorority life, gave back to the community through service and philanthropy, and empowered members to become better leaders, sisters, and community members. One of the biggest challenges during her term was addressing the increase in sexual assaults taking place this past fall. The organization and the chapter stood together to take action against this pervasive campus-wide issue by putting a pause on social events and implementing numerous sexual assault prevention training and risk management initiatives. She was a featured speaker at the Association for Fraternal Leadership and Values annual conference for fraternity and sorority leadership, where she shared her experience and efforts against sexual violence on IU’s campus. She also directed the IU Body Project, a research-based eating disorder prevention program that promotes body acceptance activism. She was also pleased to be a part of the Indiana University Dance Marathon for four years. In terms of academic engagement, Claire served the Indiana University Athletics department as an academic mentor and tutor for student athletes, and has been a teaching assistant for Dr. Alvin Rosenfeld’s course on the history and literature of the Holocaust. 

Acknowledgments

From family and friends to IU faculty and staff, Claire couldn’t be more appreciative of the communities that have supported her throughout her collegiate experience:

First and foremost, I want to thank my mom and dad for supporting me every step of the way. I’m so grateful for the mentorship and encouragement I’ve received from so many IU faculty and staff members including Nicole Martins, Chris Meno, Alvin Rosenfeld, my nominator Corry Smith, and the other great folks over at the Office of Sorority and Fraternity Life. Finally, I want to thank all of the wonderful friends I’ve made during my time at IU: my sorority sisters in Delta Zeta, my Panhellenic executive team, my HeRoes from the Hospital Relations committee, and all of the other people I’ve crossed paths with that have made my four years here so special!”