CSB’s Farrell, SJU’s Torres to receive Presidents’ Student Leadership award

Two students from the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University have received Presidents' Student Leadership awards.

CSB's Theresa Farrell and SJU's Edwin Torres will be recognized at the annual Summit and Awards Ceremony April 7 at Macalester College in St. Paul by Minnesota Campus Compact.

A total of 26 students from colleges around the state earned the award for their commitment to civic responsibility and leadership, evidenced by initiative, innovative and collaborative approaches to addressing public issues, effective community building and integration of civic engagement into the college experience. Each president from a Minnesota Campus Compact member institution may recognize one honoree in the category.

Both Farrell and Torres have been extremely active in civic responsibility and leadership while at CSB and SJU.

Farrell, a senior from Rapid City, South Dakota, is a global business leadership and peace studies double-major. She is currently serving as a resource development student worker, and served as a community impact intern at United Way of Central Minnesota. Farrell participates in the planning and facilitation of workplace campaigns in the former position.

On campus, Farrell is a member of both the CSB Marie and Robert Jackson Fellows Program, and the CSB/SJU Bonner Leader Program. She has been on the dean's list each semester, and has been active in Upward Bound as both an academic tutor and tutor mentor.

Torres, a senior from San Pedro, California, is a political science major. He received the Dr. Juan Andrade Scholarship for Young Hispanic Leaders in February 2015, one of only 20 students to receive the award nationally. He was also one of 30 interns nationally to be a Stennis Congressional Intern Fellow during the 114th Congress while he interned for California Rep. Janice Hahn as part of the Washington, D.C., Summer Study program.

He is the only CSB/SJU student to be named a two-time John Brandl Scholar, and was named the Caritas Man of Extraordinary Service Award as a first-year student in 2013. Torres also is vice president of the SJU Senate, a student coordinator at the Eugene J. McCarthy Center for Public Policy and Civic Engagement and a residential assistant.