CWU honors standout student employees at annual ceremony

The CWU Student Employee Awards have always received plenty of positive attention from the university community. But there was something about this year’s event that took the celebration to another level.

After receiving a record number of nominations, the 2025 ceremony had to be moved to a larger venue to accommodate all of nominees and their guests. About 200 people showed up to the May 6 event in the SURC Theatre, where most of the 103 nominees came together to celebrate another successful school year.

“We are all so proud of our student employees because they do so much for us,” said Hiring Consultant Lynsey Groat, who helped coordinate the event along with her colleagues on the Human Resources hiring team. “They are so essential to the work we do every day, and this event is important because it puts them front and center.”

President Jim Wohlpart was in attendance, along with the CWU cheerleading squad, and Archie, the CWU facility dog.

Groat said this year’s nominations increased more than three times over the 33 her team received last year. Nominations were submitted online this spring, primarily by the students’ supervisors, and were broken up into five categories — Most Welcoming, Most Inclusive, Most Responsive, Most Knowledgeable, and Most Proud.

Winners received a $100 bonus, a goodie bag, and a CWU sweatshirt, along with the pride of knowing they were selected out of a pool of more than 100 nominees.

Ngoc Phung, who works at CWU-Des Moines, made the trip over to Ellensburg for the ceremony and left with the award for Most Inclusive.

“I had no idea I was going to win, so it was a pretty big shock,” said Phung, who works as a student ambassador and an activities coordinator for the CAT Team. “It was a little emotional, but I also felt very proud because there were so many nominees this year. To have my name called — one of only five out of more than 100 — was pretty unbelievable.”

Rodrigo Castaneda-Marin was equally surprised when he won the Most Welcoming award for his work in the Human Resources department. He works closely with Groat and the other members of the hiring team, and he commended his colleagues for keeping him in the dark.

“I was helping them put together the presentation, but I never saw my name come up,” Castaneda-Marin said. “They hid it from me pretty well.”

Castaneda-Marin also served as co-emcee for the ceremony, alongside HR Operations Director Missy Davis. When his name was announced by Davis, he was already standing at the podium.

“It was definitely a big surprise,” he said. “I’m pretty humble and I don’t take compliments well. But I really appreciate being recognized. It means a lot.”

The three other winners at the 2025 Student Employee Awards were Javier Rodriguez from Custodial Services (Most Responsive); Emerson Carter from the Sustainability Office (Most Knowledgeable); and Sam Coyle from the Office of the Registrar (Most Proud).

Groat said her team received a good mix of nominations from across the university this year, with nearly all CWU divisions represented. She attributed the record number of nominations to increased advertising and a particularly enthusiastic group of student employees who deserve the positive attention.

“Our student employees all do a great job of exhibiting the Wildcat Way, and I think the spirit of the awards really came through this year,” Groat said.

Phung is an exemplary ambassador for the Wildcat Way, putting in extra effort every day to help her fellow students at the University Centers in Des Moines and Pierce.

The international student from Vietnam has earned a reputation as someone who goes out of her way to provide a positive experience for colleagues and peers.

“We have a large population of non-traditional students, and I always try to create a welcoming environment for them,” said Phung, a senior accounting major. “We have people from a variety of cultural backgrounds, and I do whatever I can to make them feel like they are valued and recognized by our school.”

Likewise, Castaneda-Marin has built a strong support network during his three years as an HR assistant. The senior human resources management major has always enjoyed helping other people, and that has made his job in HR all the more rewarding.

“I try to be easy going and earn people’s trust, but I still like to joke around,” he said. “At the end of the day, I just want to help people succeed. That gives me a lot of satisfaction, and I look forward to doing those same things in my career.”