KU News Release

LAWRENCE — Two Topeka seniors won the 19th annual Excellence in Community, Education and Leadership Awards at the University of Kansas during the Oct. 10 homecoming football game at Memorial Stadium.

Since 1991, the Ex.C.E.L. Award has provided $500 scholarships annually to two students. The winners also plan a spring leadership conference with KU’s Student Involvement and Leadership Center. Winners’ names are listed on a plaque on the fifth level of the Kansas Union.

The winners were selected from among 10 finalists by a committee that included representatives of the Student Union Activities, the Board of Class Officers, the Student Involvement and Leadership Center and the Homecoming Steering Committee.
Finalists were selected on the basis of leadership, effective communication skills, involvement at KU and in the Lawrence community, scholarship and ability to work with a variety of students and organizations.

To be eligible, nominees must be full-time undergraduate students with an overall grade-point average of 3.0 or higher. Finalists completed an application and participated in an interview. The 2009 winners and brief highlights of their campus achievements are listed below.

From Topeka 66614
Matt Enriquez, senior in communication studies and philosophy, is president of Ascend KU, an organization that helps train undergraduate student leaders and coordinates peer education programs. Enriquez has been an onsite coordinator and participant in KU’s LeaderShape Institute. He is vice president of the senior class and also of the KU chapter of Mortar Board student honor society. A former Student Senate representative and Student Alumni Association vice president of outreach, Enriquez is co-chair of daily events on the Student Homecoming Committee. He is assistant director of business operations for KU Dance Marathon for Children’s Miracle Network. As a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, Enriquez has been historian and alumni relations chair and Greek Endeavor lead coordinator. He has volunteered at Lawrence Social Service League, Natural Ties and Jubilee Café and, for the last two years, has been a new student orientation assistant. He is the son of Ping and Diana Enriquez and a graduate of Washburn Rural High School.

Ashley Moser, senior in finance and marketing, is co-director of the Homecoming Steering Committee after serving last year as co-chair for special events. As vice president for recruitment for the KU Panhellenic Association, Moser spent the summer planning activities for not only incoming women students and their parents but also all KU sorority members involved with welcoming new members. In her Delta Gamma sorority, Moser was pledge class president, public relations director and vice president for member education. She is a member of the Board of Class Officers and sponsorship director for KU Dance Marathon. Moser has been vice president for communications of the American Businesswomen’s Association student chapter and a volunteer Topeka Elite Volleyball coach for seventh- and eighth-graders. Moser noted that being a KU LeaderShape Institute participant influenced her in officer roles and networking with other campus groups. She is the daughter of Jeff and Lori Moser and a graduate of Washburn Rural High School.