SIU Board of Trustees Honors Eight Outstanding SIU Students
April 17, 2026
Carbondale, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University System Board of Trustees and the Student Advisory Committee for the SIU System (SACSS) recognized eight outstanding students with the 2026 SIU System Distinguished Student Service Award. The students from SIU campuses in Carbondale, Edwardsville, Alton and Springfield were honored at the SIU board meeting that was held in Carbondale on April 16, 2026.
(L to R) SIUE Chancellor James T. Minor, SIU President Dan Mahony, Lucia Knapp, Myla Croft, Zuzanna Gaik, Tatina Castillo, SIU Board Chair Phil Gilbert and SIUC Chancellor Austin Lane. Mak Mallon, Nicholas Yuhas, Karigan Harvey and Alexis Hamon were not able to attend the board meeting.
“SIU is proud to have so many wonderfully accomplished students who are not only making a major impact on campus but also in their communities,” said SIU System President Dan Mahony. “To see these students in action reveals so much about their passion and energy. These students generously spread the SIU spirit of service on and off their campuses.”
The SACSS advises SIU administrators on student-related issues that are pertinent at the system level. It also serves as a vehicle to discuss matters impacting the campuses, share ideas and projects, find solutions to problems, and work together on vital student concerns.
For the 2026 SIU System Distinguished Student Service Award, the SACSS received applications from across the system and selected one undergraduate student and one graduate student each from SIU Edwardsville and SIU Carbondale, as well as one student from the SIU schools of medicine, law, pharmacy and dental medicine.
The winners include:
- Lucia Knapp, SIUE undergraduate student
- Mak Mallon, SIUE graduate student
- Nicholas Yuhas, SIU School of Dental Medicine
- Karigan Harvey, SIUE School of Pharmacy
- Zuzanna Gaik, SIUC undergraduate student
- Elisa Tatiana Castillo Burgos, SIUC graduate student
- Myla Croft, SIU Simmons Law School student
- Alexis Hamon, SIU School of Medicine student
More information about each of the 2026 SIU System Distinguished Student Service Award recipients follows:
SIU Carbondale Undergraduate Student, Zuzanna Gaik (hometown: Elk Grove Village, Ill.): As a senior at SIU Carbondale, Zuzanna is majoring in sports administration and linguistics and minoring in communications. She is a first-generation college student and has earned a Seal of Biliteracy (Polish and English). She has been active with the Undergraduate Student Government, the College of Liberal Arts Student Advisory Council and the Dawg Pound Committee. She has immersed herself in Student Affairs and Saluki Athletics, leading and training new orientation leaders and making a commitment to attend athletics events by coordinating operations for the student section. She brings care, dedication and commitment to each of her roles, has an eye on a career in higher education student affairs and plans to attend graduate school and continue serving SIU as a leader and mentor in student engagement.
SIU Carbondale Graduate Student, Tatiana Castillo (hometown: Pasto, Narino, Colombia): Tatiana is completing her Master of Social Work degree after earning her bachelor’s degree in social communication-journalism from Mariana University in Colombia. At SIUC, she founded and led the Multicultural Empowered Women Student Association, in which students from different cultural backgrounds strengthen their leadership skills and engage in meaningful dialogue. She is also active with the International Student Council, strengthening programming and outreach efforts and helping students navigate life in a new country and feel welcome at SIU. Tatiana also applied her academic studies at her internship at the Carbondale Public Library, assisting community members experiencing housing instability and economic hardships. And she served as a Social Work and Latino Heritage public policy intern at the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, contributing policy analysis related to the implementation of the Violence Against Women Act in southern Illinois. Her remarkable leadership has benefited students, her campus and the local community.
SIU School of Law Student, Myla Croft (hometown: St. Louis, Mo.): Myla is a third-year law student at SIU Carbondale after being named a Lincoln Laureate while working toward her bachelor’s degree in political science at SIUC. As an undergraduate student, she volunteered through the Saluki Scholars in Action program with the Boys & Girls Club, guiding youth through homework and other learning activities. She also held leadership roles in the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs as philanthropist chair and vice president. As a law student, she has become a mentor in several ways, notably helping first-year students make the transition into law school and as a teaching assistant for legal research and legal writing, assisting both students and professors. She has promoted advocacy as vice president of the Black Law Students Association and director of advocacy and external affairs for the Midwest Black Students Association. Perhaps most impressive is the direct legal service she provides, working under attorney supervision, in the SIU Law Juvenile Justice Clinic. In this role she represents abused and neglected children in Jackson County, working to know their cases thoroughly and represent their best interests in court.
SIU School of Medicine Student, Alexis Hamon (hometown: Aviston, Ill.): Alexis, known as Ally by her peers, is a second-year medical student after earning her bachelor’s degree in physiology from SIUC. Ally has excelled in unprecedented ways in both Carbondale and Springfield as the medical school’s volunteer coordinator for the Class of 2028. She inspires others to volunteer. Her efforts in organizing and advertising events in her first year resulted in a 350 percent increase in volunteer hours by medical students from the year before. She has shifted the mentality about volunteering from being one-time events to developing ongoing, meaningful relationships with organizations and individuals. In Carbondale, that included Rock Steady Boxing for Parkinson’s patients, who came to enjoy the medical students’ consistent presence. In Springfield, she built a culture of volunteering by creating group “introduction to service” events so students could meet a variety of local organizations’ representatives. Ally herself volunteers every week with a third-grade girl at Enos Elementary School in Springfield and has experienced the powerful impact of just showing up and celebrating small wins. All of this has helped her appreciate service as a central part of a medical student’s life.
SIU Edwardsville Undergraduate Student, Lucia Knapp (Breese, Ill.): Lucia is finishing her bachelor's degree in political science with a minor in philosophy. She also spent a semester abroad in Milan, Italy. Lucia, an outstanding student, has been a dynamic leader on campus, especially in Student Affairs and student government. She took the initiative in helping a professor reshape FST 101, a course required for all first-year students. She and other students assembled new practical materials to help students flourish at SIUE. She became a Cougar Connector, orientation leader and orientation transition assistant, helping hundreds of new and transfer students find their footing. As a resident assistant, Lucia strives to build welcoming, inclusive communities in the residence halls. She has also been an active leader in Greek life, organizing a record-breaking Best Dance Crew event while serving as vice president of Community Service and Philanthropy on the Panhellenic Council. She has served as vice president of student government, worked as a Student Affairs Specialist, completed the 40-hour Antiracism, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Leadership Certificate and became her sorority’s first director of DEI. Her acts of service are selfless, structural and sustained. She has not only participated in student life. She has reshaped it on the SIUE campus.
SIU Edwardsville Graduate Student, Mak Mallon (hometown: Wood River, Ill.): Mak is pursuing her master’s degree in African American Literature after receiving her bachelor’s in history from SIUE, and she plans to begin work on a Ph.D. this fall. She served two summers as a Servant Leader Intern at the SIU-sponsored Freedom School, a six-week summer program that offers a culturally competent curriculum with leadership, reading and engagement activities for students in grades 1-8. Mak taught and mentored middle school students with a focus on literature and activism, she assisted with community outreach about the Freedom School, and she mentored other interns. Mak also cofounded the Black Literary Analysis Club to provide a space for black students to engage in intellectual conversations beyond the classroom. She is a leader who is intentional about how she allocates her time in the service of others.
SIU School of Dental Medicine, Nicholas Yuhas (hometown: Decatur, Ill.): Nicholas is pursuing a doctoral degree in dental medicine at the SIUE campus in Alton. He earned his bachelor’s degree from SIUC and his master’s in biological sciences from Eastern Illinois University. He is the student body president at the School of Dental Medicine, a position from which he advocates for other students and serves as an energizing force within the school. His involvement in organizing and coordinating events such as the SIU SDM Impressions Day and Manual Dexterity Day reflects his commitment to creating meaningful experiences that connect prospective students, current students and the professional community. His leadership across multiple SDM organizations, including the Endodontics Study Club and the National Student Research Group, further demonstrates his extraordinary capacity to balance responsibility, academic excellence and service. Nicholas’s service extends meaningfully into the community as well. From volunteering at Give Kids A Smile and Veterans’ Care Day to his work at the Mission of Mercy and Ronald McDonald House, he has consistently dedicated his time and skills to underserved populations. His record of community involvement reflects a deep sense of social responsibility and compassion that is truly exemplary.
SIU School of Pharmacy, Karigan Harvey (hometown: Fairfield, Ill.) Karigan is a third-year student pharmacist on the SIUE campus (after completing pre-pharmacy coursework at SIUE) and says she wants to change the world. She hopes one day to open a clinic for patients with substance use disorder (SUD). That requires listening to patients, responding with compassion and meeting them where they are. At the school, she serves as a student representative on both the Pharmacy Advisory Board and the Outcomes Assessment Committee, where she provides a student perspective on curricular and programmatic decisions. She is also the head of the Class of 2027 Service Committee and a member of the Well-Being and Resilience Committee, where she works with classmates and faculty to promote student wellness and coordinate service opportunities. She is active in organizing programs providing diabetes education and health screenings, which is a great example of her commitment to service, leadership and patient advocacy throughout her time in the PharmD program.
Each awardee received a plaque of recognition and a $100 check.
About the Southern Illinois University System
Founded in 1869, the Southern Illinois University System includes nationally recognized public universities serving more than 24,500 students across two institutions: Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE). SIUC includes the Simmons Law School in Carbondale and School of Medicine in Springfield. SIUE includes a School of Pharmacy in Edwardsville, a School of Dental Medicine in Alton, the Southwestern Illinois Justice and Workforce Development Campus in Belleville and the East St. Louis Center. Employing more than 7,400 faculty and staff, the SIU System is a major economic driver for Central and Southern Illinois and offers a wide range of academic programs leading to associate, bachelor’s, master’s, specialist, doctoral and professional degrees including law, medicine, pharmacy and dental medicine.
Media Contact: John Charles, executive director of government and public affairs, Southern Illinois University System.
