iCons Announces the 2023 Crowley-Nowick Award for iCons Student Leadership and Philanthropy

The Crowley-Nowick Award for iCons Student Philanthropy and Leadership was established through a gift from Peg Crowley-Nowick ‘86, president of medical affairs consulting for Lumanity. Each year, the award is given to two iCons students who embody a strong sense of community in the iCons Program.

Sriya Munugoti is a rising junior on the biomedicine/biosystems track and outside of iCons, she is a research mentor at the Office for Undergraduate Research and Studies (OURS) and works in Dr. Thayumanavan’s research lab studying immunotherapeutic discovery. Outside of STEM, she is a head media editor and nonfiction editor for the official student-run literary journal, The Jabberwocky.

Jack Minella is a rising senior on the renewable energy track in iCons and is the president of Sunrise, UMass, an organization that works to further sustainability and champion climate justice on campus. Jack also serves as the Secretary of Sustainability in the Student Government Association (SGA) and is Co-President of Challah for Hunger, a service group that focuses on fighting food insecurity by selling homemade bread to raise proceeds for the Amherst Survival Center and Swipe Out Hunger.

“iCons, to me, functions like a game of Jumanji,” Sriya says, “Whether it be within a cohort, a track, or in a team project, it's impossible to beat the game and save the island without every member of the team applying our unique habits and skills to clear different obstacles and become well-rounded thinkers.”

Jack also recognizes the value of community within iCons, saying, “iCons was the first place where I began to have a sense of community at UMass. I felt extraordinarily lucky to find other people who wanted to be actively engaged with one another even though we were at home due to COVID-19, and I felt even luckier to find community in a group so dedicated to pursuing and effecting change.”

Both are grateful to have been recognized by their peers for this award and look forward to the opportunity to build on the community they have found within the program. Sriya says, “ I hope to use this role to discover new outlets to build and sustain these networks for our current and upcoming cohorts.” Jack also hopes to build a bridge between cohorts, saying, “I’m eager to grow relationships between the cohorts, as there is a great unrealized potential for cross-talk among various iCons students who otherwise wouldn’t come in contact with each other.”