Samuel Afriyie Receives SUNY Chancellor's Award

2016 Apr 7

Samuel Afriyie of Bronx, NY, is among a select group of State University of New York students chosen to receive the 2016 SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence. SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher presented the awards to the students at a reception in their honor Tuesday, April 5, at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany.

The Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence is the highest honor that SUNY bestows upon students. It is presented annually to SUNY students who demonstrate academic excellence and integrate it with accomplishments in other areas, such as leadership, career achievement, campus involvement, athletics, community service, or creative and performing arts.

Afriyie has earned a cumulative 3.6 grade point average while pursuing majors in both Africana Latino studies and international development studies, and minoring in French. His scholarly work includes New York African Studies Association conference presentations in 2013, 2014 and 2015, a presentation detailing problems faced by street kids for the Ghana Regional Showcase, and an award-winning essay, which he wrote in connection with SUNY Oneonta’s Student Research and Creative Activity Day. As an intern for the UNESCO Center for Global Education, Afriyie designed programming and planned events to attract philanthropic support for major foundations. He also interned at the Foundation Center in New York City. There, he audited NGO projects and budget allocations, and assisted with the creation of a new international mapping interface for non-profits within Nigeria. Outside of the classroom, Afriyie has distinguished himself as a senior student leader who models hard work, compassion, and a concern for justice. He served as president of SUNY Oneonta’s Pan-African Student Organization for two years. In 2014, he co-founded Students Against Racial Profiling and organized a rally around addressing racial inequity. Last fall, he became a peer academic coach for the Educational Opportunity Program, guiding students to improve their academic performance.

Since 1998 when the Chancellor's Award program was implemented, 80 SUNY Oneonta students have received the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence.