Lionel Imena-Kirenga

Award for Campus Contributions

Presented by Laura Ballou, Assistant Dean of Student Life Operations

My name is Laura Ballou and I am the Assistant Dean of Student Life Operations. In addition to working on campus for the past 18 years, I am also an alum, class of ’97. I am honored to present the Award for Campus Contributions to our junior recipient, Lionel Imena-Kirenga. Lionel is an international student majoring in Financial Economics.

For the past three years, Lionel has made a positive impact on campus life in a wide variety of ways. He quickly became involved with student government and was elected as a senator his first year on campus. During this time, he successfully executed a program where an alum, Peter Perkowski, gave a talk on campus regarding LGTBQ+ issues in the military. He also served on the Students’ Association Appropriations Committee (SAAC) during his first year. This initial experience with SAAC then led him to become a student accountant. For the past year, Lionel has served as Deputy Treasurer. Through his role as Deputy, he has increased training resources for business managers and made more resources available online. Throughout his time on SAAC he was known as a student who acts professionally and fairly in all of this interactions with student organizations.

In addition to his roles in student government, Lionel has positively impacted the community in many other ways including serving as a TA for economics classes and as a mentor in the Investment Banking Program. He recognized the difficulty students, especially international and minority students, face trying to break into the investment banking industry and wanted to create a network so that UR students could be as successful as students from other schools. He is the first point of contact for students who would like to be a part of the Investment Banking Program. He has also served as a RA for Residential Life where he worked tirelessly to create an inclusive community and is also a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity.

Lionel is well liked, respected by his peers, and has an infectious smile. Because of all of these involvements and his ability to interact with the student body, Lionel was one of the students chosen to be involved with the University of Rochester Presidential Search Committee. He was one of three student liaisons between the student body and the Search Committee. He successfully navigated a difficult task of articulating to the Faculty Committee and the Board of Trustees regarding the role of our University President from the student perspective and issues faced by the student body.

In his own words, Lionel states, “From these experiences, I have gained extensive networking and team building skills that I will be able to use outside of college and built meaningful relationships with the people around me.” Our community has been lucky to have someone like Lionel involved in making campus life better which makes him truly worthy of this award.

Congratulations, Lionel!

About the Award

The Award for Campus Contributions is given to a student who has made significant contributions to the University community, including campus life, academic achievement and leadership, and community service. The award winner will have promoted and demonstrated excellence in all aspects of their college experience. Two awards will be given: one to a senior, and one to a junior.