W&L Holds 2026 Leadership Excellence Awards The annual banquet recognizes the many individual and group accomplishments of W&L students within the past year.

By Kelsey Goodwin
April 16, 2026

Washington and Lee University held its 2026 Leadership Excellence Awards ceremony on Tuesday, March 24, to recognize individuals and organizations that have significantly impacted the campus within the past year.

Now in its 12th year, the event is facilitated by Leah Beard, assistant dean of student leadership at W&L. A student committee works alongside Beard to organize the event, with a selection committee choosing a recipient for each award from among the nominees. This year’s Leadership Excellence Awards Committee included co-chairs Abby Leo ’26 and Emily Bradley ’26 as well as Sophia Taylor ’26, Lillian Peskova ’26, Kelcie Comisac ’27, Thomas O’Connor ’27, Aubrey Powers ’28, Lily Ha ’28, Matthew Sosa ’28, Gabriel Castillo ’28, KJ Miller ’28 and Jackson Weiser ’29.

This year, the committee restructured its approach to give each member a more active role to raise awareness and gather nominations, including leading tabling events throughout the academic year. For Emily Bradley ’26, a chemistry major and data science minor from Poquoson, Virginia and herself among this year’s 1749 Senior Medallion Award recipients, the Leadership Excellence Awards mean more than a ceremony. A four-year member of the committee, she said the event’s inclusive spirit is what makes it special.

“We invite all of the presidents or leaders of different clubs on campus, even if they’re not a finalist or a recipient of the award,” Bradley says. “I think that makes it really intentional. We’re celebrating leadership among everyone on campus. It’s not just the people we’re honoring that evening; we’re all coming together to recognize the hard work that everyone puts into their organizations.”

Now in its second year, the 1749 Senior Medallion Award honored top members of the graduating class who demonstrated outstanding leadership and service during their years at W&L. Recipients embody W&L’s mission and values, including honor, integrity, civility and inclusiveness, and have made a lasting impact through their involvement across various organizations and initiatives.

“The Leadership Excellence Awards holds a special place in my heart and remains one of my favorite W&L events,” says Beard. “I believe it is so crucial that we take time each year to recognize and celebrate the remarkable leadership our students demonstrate and their many accomplishments. To our award winners and finalists, I want to extend my congratulations. Your dedication, passion and hard work have not gone unnoticed, and the impact you’ve made will be felt on our campus for years to come.”

Learn more about individual and group awards at the Leadership Excellence Awards and explore W&L’s leadership development programming.

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2026 Leadership Excellence Awards Recipients

Nabors Service League McLoughlin Award for Volunteerism

Joanna Guevara-Hernandez ’26

Leadership for a Sustainable Future Award

Emma Scott ’26

Grace Rustay ’27

Lenfest Center Award: Excellence in Arts Management

Jayden Pautz ’28

Gabe Hogan ’27

W&L Community Service Excellence Award

Beta Beta Nu Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.

Outstanding Peer Connector

Elise McPherson ’26

Residence Life Awards

Residential Advisor of the Year

Gibson Ward ’27

Community Assistant of the Year

Amara Oputa ’27

Programmer of the Year

Kaitlin Silva ’26

Hannah Adams ’27

Aiden Gray ’27

Outing Club Leadership Award

Alexis Teter ’27

Grayden Holliday ’26

Outstanding Peer Educator

Courtney May ’26

Sanjheev Rao ’27

Holbrook Barber Scholarship Award

Gibson Ward ’27

Excellence in Writing Center Leadership Award

Kaitlin Silva ’26

Burish Service Leadership Award

Nona David ’26

Educational Leadership in Practice Award

Anshika Patel ’26

Emerging Leader of the Year

Oyinladun Akinroluyo ’29

The Christopher Noland Student Activities Leadership Award

Daniel Reiter ’26

Katalyn Denby ’26

Panhellenic, IFC and NPHC Members of the Year Award

Kaitlin Silva ’26 (Panhellenic)

Mateo Moss ’26 (IFC)

Malik Hardy ’26 (NPHC)

Best Event of the Year

Posada – English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)

Outstanding Philanthropic Effort

English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)

Americus White Award: The Best Student Organization (Americus White Award)

Mock Trial

The Frank J. Gilliam Award

Katalyn Denby ’26

The Edward Lee Pinney Prize

Ava Grace Flory ’26

The Madison Montgomery Shinaberry ’16 Outstanding Student Leader Award

Gaby White ’27

Kaden Buss ’27

The Brackett Priddy Prize

Sam Larsen ’26

The John W. Elrod Unsung General Award

Gabe Hogan ’27

The Decade Award

Mariyyah Daniel ’27

Anece F. McCloud Excellence in Belonging Award

Celeste Alvarez ’26

Tyler Bush ’26

Larry Stuart Memorial Award

Thomas Finnegan ’26

The Alexander Thomas Boehling ’10 Memorial Award

Meaghan Endres ’26

Daniel Reiter ’26

1749 Senior Medallion Award

Abby Leo ’26

Alan Haigler ’26

Anshika Patel ’26

Austin Winslow ’26

Daniel Reiter ’26

Ella Moser ’26

Emily Bradley ’26

Kaitlin Silva ’26

Katalyn Denby ’26

Keaton Rush ’26

Laura Murambadoro ’26

LeAnna Baker ’26

Malik Hardy ’26

Meaghan Endres ’26

Owen Burns ’26

Patrick Solcher ’26

Rebecca Hoffman ’26

Sophia Taylor ’26

Tyler Bush ’26

Will Knight ’26