Cohen one of 10 Chancellor’s Award winners

David Cohen will be recognized with four awards at the University of Kansas 139th Commencement on Sunday, May 22. He has been awarded a Chancellor’s Award, the School of Business R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Award, the Greek Man of the Year from the Interfraternity Council and will carry the banner for the School of Business during commencement. He is the son of Debbi and Howard Cohen and is a member of Congregation Beth Shalom.

Cohen said receiving all this recognition this spring has been surreal. He believes being able to lead his fellow business graduates down the hill into Memorial Stadium will be an amazing honor.

“I have worked the past four years here at KU to better the community and nearly all of those actions go thankless. This was a much appreciated pat on the back for the passion that I have for the KU community,” Cohen said.
“Although the recognition is nice, I know that I have been rewarded 10 times over by the positive things I will leave behind me,” he continued. “I know that my name has been thrown around into a group of people that I respect and have been honored to work with. It feels good to share the stage with such an amazing group of students.”

Cohen is one of 13 students who have excelled academically who will carry banners for KU’s 12 schools and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at commencement. As banner carriers, the students will lead their fellow graduates in the traditional march down Mount Oread into Memorial Stadium. Banner carriers will join university officials on a platform in the stadium for the ceremonial conferring of degrees.

He is also one of 10 graduating seniors to be honored with a 2011 chancellor’s Student Award. Specifically he is one of two Alexis F. Dillard Student Involvement Award winners. The Chancellor’s Awards recognize students’ academic, volunteer and leadership accomplishments during their time at KU. This particular award goes to a graduating student who has unselfishly contributed to the university through campus involvement. The award is accompanied by a cash prize.

Recipients will be honored at a reception Saturday, May 21. The honorees also receive special recognition during the Commencement ceremony and their portraits will be in the Commencement program.

The Chancellor’s Student Awards committee selects the winners from throughout the university from nominations submitted by students, faculty and staff. The selection committee includes students, faculty and staff.
This March, Cohen was one of six students to receive a R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Positive Code of Conduct award for outstanding personal and professional conduct in the School of Business. R.E.S.P.E.C.T. stands for responsibility, enthusiasm, self-esteem, professional integrity, equity, compassion and teamwork. Cohen has volunteered with the Alternative Breaks program serving in Israel and Tampa, Fla. A member of Hillel, he has participated in leadership and service missions to Israel. He has also worked with the ATM/debit maintenance team for the Union Bank of Missouri. He holds the rank of Eagle Scout in Boy Scouts of America.

Students were nominated by faculty, staff and students. Award winners are chosen by the Honor Council in the School of Business.

“To be recognized for this award is a great pat on the back from people that I truly admire for something that is not always easy,” Cohen said.

Cohen will receive a bachelor’s degree in accounting and is also a master’s student in accounting. While working on his graduate degree, Cohen will have an audit internship with PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP in Kansas City, Mo.

Cohen has served as treasurer of the Student Senate, managing a $24 million budget provided by student fees that serves to fund a wide range of campus activities. For this academic year, Cohen served as a teaching assistant for an undergraduate accounting course in the School of Business. This spring, he also served as teaching assistant for an introductory accounting course in KU’s School of Law.

A graduate of Blue Valley North High School, he served on the university’s anti-hazing task force and re-established Zeta Beta Tau, a non-pledging, non-hazing Greek social fraternity at KU. He has served three terms as the fraternity’s president and is a voting member of the board of directors for Zeta Beta Tau International. Cohen described the combination of his work on the university’s anti-hazing task force and hazing charges involving KU’s Interfraternity Council this past year as an invaluable experience. He said that his efforts to establish new leadership immediately within IFC taught him that the ethical decisions individuals make in private are far more vital than their public actions.

Rissien to receive 2011 Campanile Award

A University of Kansas senior recognized as a “KU superfan” by students and as the founder of KU Israel Week will receive the 2011 Campanile Award.

Matthew David Rissien, the son of Kehilath Israel Synagogue members Aaron and Shelley Rissien, will receive the $500 award that was established by the Class of 2000 to honor a graduating senior who has displayed remarkable leadership, character and respect for KU.

Rissien will graduate May 22 with a bachelor’s degree in religious studies and a minor in Judaic studies. He said the award means a lot to him.

“In my years at KU I have been fortunate enough to work in a number of amazing student organizations both Jewish and non-Jewish. To go to such an amazing school as KU, and know that I have made such a contribution on campus really is such an honor,” he said.

A familiar face to many students on campus, Rissien has served in leadership roles for Student Union Activities, the KU Info desk and KU Hillel. In his work with campus groups, he has represented KU regionally and nationally. A graduate of the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, he said that “KU has taught me the networking and leadership skills to take me to the next step in my life.”

That next step included serving as the first spirit coordinator for SUA, where he was in charge of running the Hawk Zone at football games. During KU games, he was often seen near the front of the crowd wearing a Jayhawk beak.

He has also worked at the KU Info desk in the Kansas Union, answering questions from students and the public.

This year, Rissien participated in “Dancing With the Stars,” an event hosted by SUA. Students picked the participants by voting for celebrities, and Rissien was chosen as KU’s superfan. He received the only perfect score in the dance competition, but eventually lost to Baby Jay.

In his sophomore year, Rissien established KU Israel Week, or Hatikvah (the hope), a student organization aimed to highlight Israel’s culture with a week of events. The organization raised $20,000 the first year and flew in bands from Israel. The third annual Israel Week was held in April.

In 2010, he was named a KU Man of Merit, an honor bestowed by the Emily Taylor Women’s Resource Center to recognize men who positively define masculinity by challenging the norms.

Rissien served on the Student Senate for two years and this year was a holdover senator. This year he was honored by the Student Senate with “The Anthony Daniels award for leadership and achievement in Multicultural Education.”

In his fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi, he has served as the rush chair and the heritage chair. Rissien represented his fraternity at the Midwest Regional Conclave Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C.

As a member of Chabad on Campus, he served as a Sinai Scholars intern, planning and recruiting for the Sinai Scholars Program. In 2010, he was a KU representative for the Sinai Scholars Leadership Symposium in Reston, Va., and was campus organizer for the New York International Shabbaton.

As a member of KU Hillel, Rissien has served as a representative to the FYSH (First Year Students of Hillel) council, which plans on-campus programs for freshmen. He also was a member of the Rock Chalk Shabbat service committee and was the leader for Friday night services. He has also volunteered with Hillel Alternative Spring Break in New York City. In 2006, he was a KU representative to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Saban conference in Washington, D.C., and served as the KU Hillel vice president of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in 2010.

Next year, Rissien will be part of the fellows program at the American Hebrew Academy in Greensboro, N.C., America’s only Jewish pluralistic college prep boarding school. He will be working in the school during the day, and living in the residence halls at night.