Previous Winners

2020-2021 Silver Paw Winners

Lauren Harvey and Wenei Philimon – April 2021

Wenei Philimon was born in Sudan but grew up in Las Vegas before graduating with a journalism degree from the University of Nevada, Reno. She's now enrolled in a master's program at Arizona. Lauren Harvey is a Northern Nevada resident who graduated from North Valleys High and is a triple major in gender, race and identity, Spanish literature, and international affairs while serving as an ASUN Senator for the College of Liberal Arts.

Their movement started a year ago, in February 2020, when Philimon was doing a class project on how black students felt on campus. From this, these two students started working on bringing a Colin Kaepernick statue to campus.

Nevada Volunteer Club – April 2021

The Nevada Volunteer Club has been incredibly proactive in making Reno a better place with every event they have had. They have volunteered for numerous organizations throughout the Reno-Sparks area and have helped the community become a better place. During late December, the Nevada Volunteer Club would send their members to help homeowners clear out their driveways. The volunteer club has reached out to organizations and sent members to spend 2-8 hours to complete tasks. The Nevada Volunteer Club started in September 2020 and has 40 members with 274 hours. They haven’t been around long, but they’ve made bigger waves compared to other clubs I oversee. I have over 25 clubs in my coalition as we’re still growing, but the University Volunteer Club has always been a success. They’re committed to making a difference as they completed their recognition process quickly, gathered enough students to create an event, work with outside organizations, and have shown their interest in Clubs and Organizations’ events since they started. They have done everything they can to promote their club to gain new remembers and the work around the club member’s interest. My personal favorite is that they will have an Outstanding Member nominee either every month or every other month and the nominee will choose/create the event the club will host.

Sabrina Jaynes – March 2021

As an actively engaged member of the Bonner Leadership Program, Sabrina Jayes has excelled at keeping the program motto at the front of her lens and experiences. Not only does she just serve as a member, but she holds a position on the Bonner Leadership Team that helps explore and cultivate service-based programming that has a more critical focus. Throughout her time on the team, Sabrina has worked towards providing more inclusive ideas that stick true to the program motto of "access to education, opportunity to serve." She is currently working on applying a more critical lens to her student status, her service, and her leadership within the community. Additionally, she is working with the foundation of our program on new and innovative ways that we can recruit individuals to participate in the program. Her work with the foundation will give her multiple new connections to other institutions and will aid in her ability to help better serve her community. Sabrina possesses an eagerness that is admirable. As a true leader, she knows when to step up and step back when needed, and she allows room for herself and her peers to grow within their personal, academic, and professional spheres of life. She is dedicated to seeing systemic and systematic change take place, and she is beginning to recognize how institutions play a role in that. Her lens is critical, and she can apply this to many areas of research, study, and living.

Student Athlete Advisory Committee – January 2021

Student group arranged for a voter registration campaign this past election season. First, the group helped multiple athletic programs get educated on voter registration in Nevada and surrounding states, and why student-athletes should vote. The meetings were arranged by ASUN and SAAC. SAAC then set up a webpage on the Nevada athletics website with links to voter registration info and ways to vote in Washoe county as well as surrounding states. SAAC then tabled for multiple days leading up to the Nevada voter registration deadline on-campus to help student-athletes along with general students register to vote. Since many student-athletes had never participated in a Presidential election or any election that is, it was a priority for SAAC to help get as many student-athletes registered to vote in 2020. SAAC helped student-athletes register to vote in Nevada as well as other states. They also helped educate students about how to vote whether it be in-person or absentee. 

Campus Escort – December 2020

Campus Escort support the mission of Civic Engagement this semester by partnering with Pack Provision to deliver food and supplies to those in need in the community. These undergraduate students are serving their fellow students by supporting those who face food insecurity or a lack of funds. Our program is funded by student fees, and this is one of the few ways we are giving back this year. By serving those in need of food or other basic life supplies by delivering them directly to their residences. This helps ease one of the many stressors facing college students as they progress through their educational goals.

Jayde Powell - November 2020

Shopping Angels was started by UNR student Jayde Powell in the beginning of the pandemic and now it has turned into a global non-profit, with volunteers in all 50 states and in Canada and Australia. Shopping Angels is a group of volunteers who deliver groceries safely to individuals who cannot leave their homes or do not feel safe leaving their homes due to COVID-19. This demographic is mostly elderly people, immunocompromised individuals, and high-risk individuals with various health conditions. Most volunteers consist of college aged individuals or older, who feel safe going to stores and shopping while taking all the necessary precautions to keep themselves and their customers safe. The volunteers help them get their necessary items without risking their health and safety during the pandemic.

Blaize Abuntori: October 2020

Blaize's development of the Reno Burrito Project is through direct service, in that there are many in the Reno area without adequate access to food or basic hygiene. Furthermore, they are learning about individuals in this community to help breakdown stereotypes and understanding more about what their needs are. Blaize has put forth a tremendous amount of thought and effort into this project and worked around not only his own studies but also his responsibilities as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Reno Statistics & Data Science Program. It gives this community something to look forward to each and every day as well as provide basic hygiene for their overall health.

Past Silver Paw Winners

*Indicates the winner of the Richard and Bonnie Bryan Family Public Service Award

• Homeless Initiative Website Resource Reno
• Nevada Stemducation
• FUSED
• Mallory Friedman & Lauren Czarnecki
• Travis Wilmoth
• Hannah Jackson
• Genevieve White
• Latinx Student Advisory Board
• Dennis Green
• Lindsy Sullivan
• Brynn Williams & Sierra Gonzales
• Aaron Alexander
• Liberatus J. Rwebugisa
• Haley Passione
• Miyah Wilson*
• Nate Deaton
• Residence Hall Association Outreach Board
• Christian Bak
• MEDLIFE
• Christian Park
• Kristen De Guzman
• Brooke Ruhl
• Dennise Mena
• Joshua Easlick
• Beta Beta Beta Honor Society
• Macario Mendoza*
• Vanessa Amaya
• Jared Tuschiyama-Sando
• Kennedy Sparling*
• Ivory Rok
• The Young Feminists
• Mackenzie Kent
• Wenei Philimon
• Steffany Yang
• Jakeyla Hall