K-State First celebrates annual award winners

K-State First celebrates and congratulates the winners of the First-Year Advocate, K-State First Book, K-State First Bosco Family Scholarship and K-State First Special Recognition Career Achievement awards.

First-Year Advocate Award

The First-Year Advocate award celebrates one faculty member and one student each year who engage with and empower first-year students, help them succeed academically, build community, foster a sense of belonging and guide them toward their purpose and goals.

Faculty awardee: Bailey Brown, College of Engineering

Bailey Brown, teaching assistant professor, impacts over 1,000 students annually through her role as coordinator and instructor of the College of Engineering's first-year orientation courses. Brown supports 11 other faculty members working with first-year students, teaches multiple CAT community courses, organizes cross-community events and hosts monthly lunches with her 12 teaching assistants.

Brown is described as an exceptional advocate for first-year students, both at the individual and systemic levels, working to design experiences that help students navigate major uncertainty, understand engineering culture and practice structured decision-making early. As a faculty member and academic advisor, she also works closely with students who are overwhelmed or struggling, normalizing challenges faced in college and advocating for mental health and metacognition care.

Brown proactively reaches out to students who fall behind and coordinates with advisors when needed, providing grade recovery opportunities, structured flexibility and individualized learning plans. Her approach balances accountability with support, giving students great responsibility paired with success tools and support.

Student awardee: Rocio Conde

Rocio Conde, a sophomore in psychology, is described as an incredibly kind, compassionate and responsive peer mentor. Conde is present and engaged while leading her CAT community class, incorporating engaging community-building activities. She actively listens to students' discussion responses and activity interactions, noticing questions, potential issues and interests and using them to help build relationships and a sense of belonging.

Conde provides essential feedback to students during times of need and frames any issues as potential growth opportunities. Dedicated to ensuring students have community and support outside the classroom, she commits significant time, effort and creativity to activities that connect students to one another and to essential university resources. Conde cares deeply about others and about creating spaces where students can grow as people and learners, stepping into their full, authentic selves.

K-State First Book Award

The K-State First Book, or KSFB, award celebrates the common experiences shared at K-State with the common read. The award winners all worked hard to foster student engagement, enhance students' educational experience, expand consideration of new ideas, values and concepts in the classroom and the university community and use creative applications of the themes from the 2025 common book, "Together" by Vivek Murthy.

Faculty awardee: Michelle Toews, professor of human development and family science

Michelle Toews offered a creative and deeply intentional application of "Together" by Vivek Murthy. Through a thoughtfully designed program, students actively practiced connection through gratitude, solitude, kindness, service and face‑to‑face engagement. Her project encouraged meaningful student engagement, empathy and reflection, and enhanced the educational experience beyond the classroom.

Toews' work exemplifies how powerful teaching can turn shared reading into lasting personal and communal growth.

Student awardees: Cora Pavlovich and Wanlin Wu

Cora Pavlovich, a sophomore in elementary education, was selected for her paper, written for Toews' class, in which she reflected on her experience reading the book and explored the deep meaning of human connection. She connected the text's themes to the idea that relationships can influence both the mind and body, for better or for worse.

Pavlovich also attended the Better Together event, where she made meaningful connections with other students during her small group discussion. Her key takeaway was that support at K-State is readily available and that people genuinely want to help. The most difficult part, she realized, is simply taking the first step and reaching out.

Wanlin Wu, a graduate student in music, was selected for her written reflection based on her experience serving as a facilitator at the Better Together event. She guided a group of first-year students through vulnerable, meaningful conversations inspired by "Together" by Vivek Murthy.

Through shared stories, diverse cultural perspectives and small moments of courage, the group evolved from polite strangers into a genuine, supportive community. This experience deepened Wu's understanding of human connection and enabled her to create a sense of belonging for others and for herself.

These student awards are made possible by the generosity of Bill and Debbie Leckron Miller.

Student Group Award

The students of Lead 350: Culture and Context and Leadership received the student group award in honor of their dedication to the Better Together event. 38 student leaders from the course participated in facilitator training and led small group discussions, creating a meaningful and lasting impact.

Special Recognition Career Achievement Award

This award is given to a K-State individual who exhibits exceptional leadership and unwavering dedication to first-year students, devoting their time to advancing the K-State First mission.

The 2026 awardee is Tamara Bauer, director of the Institute for Community Health and Wellbeing. Bauer has been a tireless advocate and trusted partner for K-State First. Her commitment to student success, especially first-year students, is evident in everything she does.

Bauer understands that belonging doesn’t happen by accident; it must be built intentionally. Bauer has worked closely with the K-State First team to bring Wildcat Dialogues to life, creating space for new students to find and engage with their community.

This year, Bauer also led the signature K-State First Book event, Better Together, which brought together students, faculty and staff to reflect on our common read and to confront one of the defining challenges of our time: loneliness. Drawing on the idea that if loneliness is the epidemic of our time, then connection is the cure, Tamara helped encourage authentic dialogue about wellness, belonging and community. Through her leadership, more than 1,000 undergraduate students across all colleges participated.

Bosco Family Scholarship

This scholarship is awarded to students who were exemplary participants in their respective CAT community programs. This year's awardees are Luke Agosta, Hannah Angell, Abby Burton, Ethan Duerksen, Kayla Ermish, Maizie Kent, Chloe Matin and Yolanda Vann.

The award is made possible by the generous contributions of the Bosco family, Bill and Debbie Leckron Miller and others.