The 10th annual Honors Giving Back Awards recognized eight Michigan State University students for their outstanding community-engaged work, including two College of Arts & Letters students. The awards recognize Honors College students for their service to their communities.

The awards ceremony, held in the newly renovated Campbell Hall, home of the Honors College’s inaugural living-learning community, took place March 31, 2026, and was attended by MSU Board of Trustee member Rebecca Bahar-Cook and Provost Laura Lee McIntyre, Ph.D.

“I am passionate about the work our students are doing, because it reminds me that we are optimistic about our future,” McIntyre said. “What our students are doing and giving back to the community, and being very engaged citizens, it really gives me hope for a better tomorrow.”

The College of Arts & Letters students who received 2026 Honors Giving Back Awards include:

• Roberto “Marcos” Garcia, third-year Honors College student with a double major in English and Sociology, who, along with his partner Sumaiya Imad, third-year Economics major, received the Second Place Prize of $750 as well as the Student Choice Prize of $250 for their project Housing Insecurity Work with the Tenant Resource Center of Mid-Michigan.
  
• Allison Doneth, fourth-year Honors College student with a double major in Neuroscience and French, received an Honorable Mention Prize of $250 for her project, Engaging Fully in Multicultural Community-Based Engagement.

Garcia explained what his housing insecurity work means to him.

“I’m now getting funding for people who are facing housing insecurity and I’m advocating for people who are renting that don’t think there’s anyone in their corner,” he said. “It feels like I’m doing something for the community that I wish was done for me. And it’s a great feeling.”

To apply for the Honors Giving Back Awards, Honors College students submitted short visual presentations about their community engagement at MSU. The awards ceremony premiered these visual presentations and students had two minutes each to answer audience questions.

Submissions included projects such as empowering students through art, tackling housing insecurity, detecting breast cancer in underserved communities, and addressing discomfort and bias in sexual and mental health.

After presentations and the judges’ deliberations, Honors College Dean Glenn Chambers announced the award winners, applauding them for “living the land grant mission of Michigan State University.”

For more information on the awards and a full list of the 2026 winners, see “A decade of impact through the Honors Giving Back Awards” article published by the Honors College.

Adapted from the Honors College article written by Chiara Palomera Perez and Melanie Brender