Each Spring, the Women's Center honors the Student of Achievement Awardees. These students have worked hard to promote diversity and equality, have demonstrated outstanding leadership abilities, excelled in their school work, and served as strong roles models for their peers.
Check out the awardees for 2024:
Teidyn Gage
She/They
Teidyn is a Hillman scholar and a senior graduating with a degree in Sociology and a minor in Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Teidyn volunteers with the VOICE Center and serves on the ASMSU VOICE Center Committee. Their research in the Sociology of Trauma has informed their future life path as they pursue a master’s degree in mental health counseling.Teidyn is passionate about people and cultivating relationships and connection with others. They intend to become a relational therapist after graduation and give people the space to feel safe and cared for while making change in their lives.
Maleeya Knows His Gun
She/Her
Maleeya is a proud member of the Crow and Northern Cheyenne tribes of Montana and will graduate in December with a degree in American Studies and minor in Native American Studies. Maleeya has served as the co-president of the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Persons student organization and has coordinated No More Stolen Sisters Awareness basketball games through Bobcat Athletics. She has been instrumental in planning MMIP Awareness Day and uses her platform as Miss Indian MSU to highlight this issue. Maleeya’s Awards include an NAS Voyich Community Involvement Award and a National Collegiate Marketing Administrators Unity Award. Maleeya is excited to continue to serve her community after graduation and to “make waves” around the world for future generations.
Anja Lincke
She/They
Anja is from Anchorage, Alaska, and will graduate in May with a degree in Sociology and a Leadership Fellows Certificate. Anja serves as the inaugural Student Diversity Advisor for ASMSU where she chairs the ASMSU Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee and empowers students to engage with DEI issues and collaborate across campus to create change. As a trip leader of multiple single and multi-day trips through MSU’s Outdoor Recreation, they built community for MSU students, taught leave-no-trace principles, facilitated mindfulness practices, and acknowledged that we are on land stolen from Indigenous peoples. Anja has worked to make their academic work intersect with their co-curricular passion, is investigating ways to improve a sense of belonging for gender minorities in STEM and doing research with the sociology department to understand ways to make students feel more supported. Anja will be graduating with an impressive GPA and hopes to continue to build community, cultivate resilience, and catalyze change.
Suzanne Loviska
She/Her
Suzanne is senior in Psychology with a minor in International Business. She will graduate in May and appreciates her exposure to a diverse range of cultures, perspectives and backgrounds broadening her understanding of global issues and fueling her passion for social change. Her volunteer and student staff work at the VOICE Center and membership in Women in Business have combined to help her find effective ways to raise awareness and hopefully have an impact on social change. Dedicated to immersing herself in male-dominated spaces to break stereotypes, Suzanne hopes that she has impacted an appreciation of diverse perspectives. After graduation, Suzanne has decided to join the Peace Corps to assist a global community.
Hope McWilliams
She/Her
Hope is studying Cell Biology and Neuroscience with a minor is Astrobiology and will graduate in May. She has been very active as an advocate with the VOICE Center and a Board member of the Survivor Fund. Her work as a Board Member for We Are HER and as a Students Against Sexual Assault member has fueled her passion for being both an advocate for survivors and a voice for change in systems that often overlook survivors of interpersonal violence. Hope has also volunteered in multiple departments at Bozeman Deaconess in preparation for attending medical school. Hope is passionate about patient-centered medical practices and hopes to carry out her work with compassion as well as knowledge to help end some of the stereotypes attached to women’s healthcare.
Rhianna Merriman
She/Her
Rio is from Anchorage, Alaska and will graduate in May with a degree in Cell Biology and Neuroscience. Rio serves as an American Indian Hall Volunteer Tutor and a Pre-Health Advising Peer Tutor. Her work with the MSU VOICE Center and their Survivor Fund quickly helped her realize the importance and positive impact this assistance can have on those experiencing interpersonal violence and trauma. Rio will attend medical school and hopes to become the best physician possible to serve her community. Rhianna will be graduating with an impressive GPA and will return to Alaska to eventually practice as a physician and help her community.
Carson Putnam
He/They
Carson will graduate in May with a degree in Psychology. His tenure at the MSU VOICE Center as an advocate and peer mentor, his work with Hope House, Forward Montana and with the Human Resource Development Council cleaning the Warming Center have all helped Carson recognize his privilege. He hopes to leverage this privilege to raise awareness around disenfranchised people and have a positive impact on the Bozeman community. Carson also plays in a jazz trio and a local rock band and hopes to create a safe and inclusive moshing environment for all. Carson hopes to continue fostering inclusion in the Bozeman area as well as making a positive impact wherever the future takes him.
Miller Rijfkogel
They/Them
Miller will graduate in May with a degree in Psychology and Criminology. Miller has been active working with the MSU VOICE Center and Students Against Sexual Assault as a volunteer advocate and student staff member. They co-founded the Disabled Students Association at MSU in 2023 and currently serve as President. Miller is an ASMSU At-large Senator and sits on the Diversity Council in hopes to provide alternative perspectives to her fellow students. They plan to eventually head to medical school (with June, of course!) to study forensics in hopes to bring more disability and queer representation into the field.
Oz Smith
He/They
Oz will graduate on May 10th with a degree in Sociology. Oz is from Bozeman and has been instrumental in planning and executing pop-up events for the Trans Closet project, a mutual aid organization that provides free gender-affirming clothing for trans folks. They have worked with Pride House to mentor LGBTQ+ youth and presented programs on queer and disabled sexual health with the Oh-Hi Collective. Oz is working to develop a comprehensive LGBTQ+ resource list for the Bozeman area in collaboration with Bridgercare and to help trans youth and their families connect with peers and gender affirming medical providers. Oz will be attending graduate school and hopes to continue to serve under-resourced communities in the future.
Kass Thompson
She/Her
Kass will graduate this month with a degree in Cell Biology and Neuroscience and a minor in Hispanic Studies and Global Health. She has been very active as a Senior Associate with MSU’s Leadership Institute throughout her college career and has most recently co-founded and serves as the Executive Director of English Para Todos, teaching English as a Foreign Language to Spanish speaking immigrants new to the Gallatin Valley. Kass is also a volunteer with the VOICE Center, and is a member of both Students Against Sexual Assault and the VOICE Center’s Survivor Board. After graduation, Kass plans to continue working in the nonprofit sector and promoting change and support for her community.
Maya Usher
She/Her
Maya is majoring in both Psychology and Sociology with a Criminology Emphasis and a minor in Human Development;she will graduate with highest honors in May. Maya has been busy as a volunteer with several community organizations, including as a CAP mentor with Thrive and a Support Line volunteer with Haven. At MSU, Maya has worked with Project Connect as a Peer Facilitator, the Pre Law Club, the Asian Student Interracial Association, the Active MindsClub, the Disabled Student Association, as well as in her role with the Delta Gamma Sorority. Upon graduation, Maya will head to San Diego where she will attend Denver’s online Master’s Degree in Social Work program.
Emma Veldhuis
She/Her
Emma is from Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, and is studying Computer Science. When she graduates in May, she will start a position with SPS Commerce in Minneapolis as an associate software engineer. She served as president of Chi Omega from Fall of 2021-Fall of 2022 where she was able to define the role of our chapter’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion chair. Emma has been a part of several Bozeman community service projects as well as fundraising for organizations like Make-A-Wish Montana. She is also active in MSU co-curricular programs, most notably Cats for Community and the Association for Women in Computing. Emma will be graduating magna cum laude.
Cheyenne Whiteman
She/Her
Cheyenne is studying Nursing and will complete her undergraduate degree in May. Cheyenne has been extremely busy making a difference in her field by volunteering with the Caring for Our Own Program, the American Indian Council, the Mobile Health Training Program and Nurses for Sexual and Reproductive Health. As a member of the Crow Nation and Miss Indian MSU, Cheyenne values her work as a Native Pathways to Success Leader, a Tutor at the American Indian/Alaska Native Student Success Center and her work with Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons. Eventually, Cheyenne will pursue a PhD in Rural Health. Upon graduation, Cheyenne plans to return to the Crow Reservation and work as a RN in her community before returning to MSU to become a Family Nurse Practitioner.