Four student-athletes, women’s soccer honored at Elizabethtown College Student Awards Ceremony

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. — Jalen Belgrave, Colin Elliott, Trinity Soto, Steve Swain, and the Elizabethtown College women’s soccer team were honored Wednesday night at the 2021-22 Elizabethtown College Student Awards ceremony held in Gibble Auditorium.

Swain ’23 and Soto ’23, juniors, and Elliott ’22, a senior at Elizabethtown, each received Distinguished Student Award honors from the College, which are given to two students from each class year who have shown the effective integration of the four signature learning attributes at the College; relationship-centered learning, international and cross-cultural perspectives, real-world learning, and purposeful life work.

Soto was also named the recipient of the Ginger Groff Award. Ginger Groff was the Director of Health Services for 10 years at Elizabethtown and a strong student advocate that was highly respected across campus. She passed away in 1994 having succumbed to a second occurrence of breast cancer, and the Ginger Groff Memorial Scholarship was endowed in her honor.

Belgrave ’23 was one of the winners of the Ubuntu Mentor Awards from the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Belonging. This award is given to a student(s) who display outstanding leadership and exemplify the importance of working with others, advocating for solutions, and being a valuable asset to our campus. The term Ubuntu translates to mean “I am because we are.”

The women’s soccer team received the Etown Center for Community and Civic Engagement (CCCE) Group Engagement Award for demonstrating a commitment to benefiting the lives of others and a commitment to the College’s Motto of ‘Educate for Service’. The student and group engagement awards are selected by the College’s CCCE staff.

Also receiving an award last night was Emma Mesko ’23, a student worker for the Athletic Communications office. Mesko, a Health Science major with history and psychology minors, was awarded the Baugher Avenue Scholarship, which is intended to reward a member of the student body who has played an integral role both on and off campus, but whose actions often go unrecognized. These students are regarded as the “quiet leaders” of the student body and this award intends to reward the dedication to both the campus and the surrounding community.

A fitting award for Mesko, who also plays an integral role for Athletic Communications, serving as the office’s game-day…