Every year, the Campus Life Award is rewarded to a select group of graduating seniors to recognize their outstanding contributions to the Ithaca College community through participation and involvement in campus life. The award has become a coveted goal and valued honor. In order to be nominated, students must have participated in and been involved in campus life and demonstrated significant leadership abilities and accomplishments.
This past April, 10 students were selected as the recipients of the 2021-2022 Campus Life Awards, including Stephanie Krauss, ’22, an integrated marketing communications major. Other IMC majors receiving the award include Cat Fox and Cassandra Logedo. Over the course of her four years at Ithaca College, Stephanie has been heavily involved with the school’s campus, while broadening her skillsets in the work force through various internships.
Currently, Stephanie is a tour guide and social media strategist for Ithaca College’s Office of Admission. She collaborates with members of the Admissions and Communications teams to develop social media campaigns to support admissions efforts, and she creates and monitors innovative content to be published on Ithaca College’s social media platforms. Additionally, she serves as the chair of marketing and communications for Senior Week, Ithaca College's annual weeklong tradition honoring the senior class before graduation.
As an IMC major, Stephanie has been able to apply the tools she learned in the classroom to her extracurriculars and jobs outside of campus.
“My major is about social media management and digital marketing,” Stephanie said. “It's kind of cool that there are opportunities to get that hands-on learning outside of the classroom, as well as networking and professional development.”
Within the IMC department, Stephanie gained experience in numerous group projects that she said helped her become more confident working in a group and as a leader. Senior Week, however, opened her to explore IMC through live events.
“Running Senior Week has completely changed my idea of what I want to do for my career path. It made me want to go into the events world,” Stephanie said. “Joining that committee made me realize how much I love events. It’s also great for my portfolio that I’ve got these accounts and their successes.”
During the application process for the Campus Life Award, Stephanie was asked to write about two significant experiences as a leader and member of the campus community. She chose to highlight her time as a tour guide alongside her involvement in IC Pitch Please, a non-auditioned a cappella group. She first joined the club as a first-year student and shortly became a part of the organization’s executive board during her sophomore year. According to Stephanie, the best part of the organization is the sense of community and family that its fostered.
On earning the campus life award, Stephanie said that she is honored to be recognized alongside her peers, who she says have all worked hard to earn the achievement. “It feels really nice to be appreciated. I didn't really need the award to know that, but it’s nice being recognized and knowing that some higher-ups have noticed the work that we’ve been doing,” said Stephanie.
The 2022 Campus Life Award recipients will be honored at a ceremony on campus on Saturday, May 21. For more information, visit: https://www.ithaca.edu/student-affairs-and-campus-life/campus-life-awards.