College senior Eduardo Garcia has received the Lucius Lamar McMullan Award for his service to the Emory and Atlanta community, the University announced on Tuesday.
The McMullan award recognizes a graduating senior who "show[s] extraordinary promise of becoming our future leaders and rare potential for service to their community, the nation and the world," according to an April 2 Office of Undergraduate Education press release.
The winner of the award receives a $25,000 prize to use as he or she wishes. Garcia will officially receive the award at the College diploma ceremony at graduation this May.
"I remember that when I was sitting in Dean Forman's office, I was very nervous because I had no clue why they wanted to meet with me," Garcia wrote in an email to the Wheel. "Once they mentioned that I won the McMullan award, I was mildly confused; it wasn't until they told me what the McMullan award was that I was overcome with joy."
Garcia is a Chemistry major also minoring in Global Health, Culture and Society and has been involved in Residence Life and Housing as a Sophomore Advisor and a Resident Advisor.
At Emory, Garcia has been heavily involved in community service by "devoting much of his work to immigrant and refugee communities in Atlanta."
"I believe that I have committed myself to my passions and allowed for this to be the driving force of all my actions," he wrote. "When I find something that inspires me, I do not let the momentum die out; I always try to find a way in which I can get involved in my community and help out those individuals that are in desperate need of it."
Garcia has volunteered more than 500 hours of community service for the AmeriCorps Jumpstart Program. The program helps prepare children from low-income communities to succeed in school. He was recognized twice at Emory as Team Leader of the Year.
According to Associate Director of the Honor Council Jason Ciejka, who served on the selection committee, 14 students were nominated for the award this year.
The press release states that Garcia was nominated for the McMullan award because of his "extraordinary charisma, generosity and kindness."
Ciejka wrote in an email to the Wheel that the committee consisted of 12 members including administrators, faculty from the sciences, social sciences, humanities and the arts and representatives from Campus Life.
"The committee considered not only the academic achievements of the nominees but also their leadership and their service to Emory and the wider community," he said.
Garcia said he is not quite sure what he wants to spend the money on quite yet.
"One of the things that I am passionate about is eliminating the barriers that prevent people from accessing care," he wrote. "Therefore, I am trying to think of the best way to use the money to help improve access to care in my community."
Garcia will be attending the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine at Texas Tech University of the school next year.
– By Nicholas Sommariva
Updated at 4:21 p.m. on April 7.
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