Students Recognized for Service, Leadership

NC State’s Alumni Association pays special attention to students who emerge as campus leaders, knowing the special traits these undergraduates hone here will serve them – and the wider world – once they graduate. Each year, the Alumni Association recognizes a few of the university’s seniors who are role models for leadership and service with the Mathews Medal. Two of the four 2015 recipients are Humanities and Social Sciences students: Austin Bath and Alex Parker.

Park Scholar and pre-med student Austin Bath (biology major, Spanish minor) felt a special calling to serve Raleigh’s Hispanic community. In 2013, he began working with the Open Door Medical Clinic, welcoming incoming patients and translating for them so that they could receive much needed medical care. Bath, who was named as NC State’s 2013 Leader of the Pack, was also active with VOLAR, or Voluntarios Ahora en Raleigh (Volunteers Now in Raleigh), a campus organization that enables students to practice their Spanish language skills while they volunteer. On campus, Bath served as student coordinator for the campus’s annual Stop Hunger Now event, managing the multi-phase project from recruiting volunteers to organizing meal packaging and distribution. He also served as chaplain and philanthropy chair for Kappa Alpha Order.

Caldwell Fellow Alex Parker (International Studies) served his fellows students as a senator, student senate president and then student body president during 2013-14. During his senior year, Parker became president of the UNC Association of Student Governments, the organization charged with representing all 220,000 students in the UNC system. He met with UNC system administrators and worked with members of the Board of Governors to advocate for student interests. He also co-chaired the Senior Class Council and Senior Class Gift Committee that established a new Student Philanthropy Council.

The Mathews Medal program is administered by the Alumni Association Student Ambassadors Program and is named after Walter J. Mathews, a dedicated, devoted and involved student and alumnus who embodied the ideals of the award. Congratulations to all the medalists.