Student Employee Awards ceremony draws a crowd to SURC Theatre

With every new year, the CWU Student Employee Awards continue to raise the bar. And 2026 was no different.

Nearly 150 attendees, including Wellington Wildcat, showed up to the SURC Theatre on Tuesday, May 12, to support the record number of nominations.

“We’ve really been getting the word out to students and their supervisors the past couple of years, and it is paying off,” said Student Employee Hiring Specialist Brenda Garcia, who coordinated the event with her colleague, Hiring Consultant Lynsey Groat.

After receiving 33 nominations in 2024, Human Resources brought in 103 last year, and then saw the number jump to 117 this year. Garcia explained that the main reason for the dramatic increase has been the change in format.

“We used to limit the nominations to supervisors, but last year we opened it up to everyone,” she said. “That has really helped increase participation, and it has also been fun for us to see students nominating each other.”

Groat said she was impressed by the support each of the nominees received from the CWU community. Even some of the nominees’ families were in attendance this year.

“Being in the theater is great because it feels like more of a celebratory atmosphere,” she said. “We used to be in the (Moehring) Event Center, but we kind of outgrew it. This was the second year we held it in the theater, and it was a packed house.”

The 2026 CWU Student Employee Award winners, and their award categories, are:

• Selene Rojas, Peer Academic Success Coach Learning Commons — Welcoming
• Awjahney Markholt, SETC Student Special Education Technology Center — Inclusive
• Rowena Wombold, Student Office Assistant Sociology — Knowledgeable
• Caydence Hesch, Community Garden Coordinator Wildcat Farm — Responsive
• Gurdil Dardi, Student Office Assistant Career Services — Proud

The HR team praised the work of student emcees Helayna Bonilla and Kaelan Kavanaugh, who helped the event maintain a student focus.

“Kaelan and Helayna knocked it out of the park,” Garcia said. “They kept the energy up and read the names with that little extra oomph. They really put some soul into it, and I think that made a big difference.”

Groat also thanked Wellington and his assistant for being so actively involved in this year’s ceremony.

“We thought he was the best one yet,” she said. “He was up on stage the entire time and did a great job of keeping the energy going.”

HR also provided all of the non-winners with goodie bags to make sure every nominee felt recognized. After all, that’s what the Student Employee Awards are all about.

“We love to celebrate our student employees because they do so much for us every day,” Garcia said. “We can’t wait to see the number of nominations grow even more next year!”