During the annual Convocation ceremony that opens the academic year, President Kelli J. Armstrong bestows Living the Mission Awards to a faculty member, staff member, undergraduate student, graduate student and community partner who embody the mission of Salve. All members of the University community are invited to submit nominations for the 2024 awards by Thursday, Aug. 1.

The Living the Mission Awards are a celebration of faculty, staff, students and community partners who have carried out the mercy mission through their dedicated service and leadership. The Office of Mission Integration is always inspired by the nominations they receive, and some past award recipients are highlighted below.

Faculty recipients include Dr. Paula Martasian, associate professor and chair of the Department of Psychology, who gives so much of herself to the Salve community.

Martasian often leads meditations and yoga on campus.

Advisor to the Psychology Club and Psi Chi for two decades, she has also been honored with the Faculty Recognition Award, First Year Advocate and Earth Champion Award during her 25 years at Salve. As current advisor to the Yoga Club, Martasian also makes the mercy mission a priority by leading service immersions to Nicaragua, dedicating time to the Salve Compass program, and engaging in service regularly in her church and the wider community.

“Dr. Martasian is the embodiment of compassionate mercy leadership,” said her nominator. “She leads her department with humility, integrity, fairness, grace and courage, which sets an example for all of the young faculty in that department.”

For superintendent of grounds Mike Chester, staff recipient of the award in 2021, many actions were shared in his nomination that reflected his loyalty to Salve, the mercy mission and the critical concern of earth through his commitment to campus safety during severe weather events and openness to collaboration. An Earth Champion Award recipient, Chester’s leadership and dedication to Salve’s values were cited in his nomination, along with his achieving Salve a Level II accreditation and Tree Campus recognition for Salve’s arboretum nearly a decade ago.

Mike Chester leads a tour of Salve’s grounds. 

Chester sees Salve’s trees as a mercy community and his level of respect and dignity he gives to our sentinel trees is deep. “When making the difficult but merciful decision to take a tree down, Mike feels the weight of grief more than anyone at Salve,” his nominator wrote. “His consolation is in the knowledge that removing a diseased tree opens up space for other trees to grow and thrive.”

There are many mercy leaders among Salve’s undergraduate and graduate students. Isabelle Cole ’24 and Evan Switzer ’24 (M) are Salve’s most recent student recipients. Cole is also the recipient of the Voyager Scholarship and the Obama Chesky Scholarship for Public Service, which she utilized to spend a semester in Morocco. Switzer received the graduate student award last year for his dedication to his practicum and clinical work in behavior analysis, leaving his full-time career to pursue work within this field.

“A father of three, Evan became interested in changing his career and pursuing further studies in behavior analysis as he learned to accompany one of his children with autism,” shared his nominator. This journey was part of Switzer’s address at the 2024 graduate Commencement ceremony.

Switzer gave the address at the 2024 graduate Commencement ceremony.

There is also a special relationship that Salve keeps with the community partners of Aquidneck Island, as they are a source of inspiration and give the University the opportunity to live the mercy mission outside of campus. Victoria Johnson, the community partner award recipient in 2023, exhibits courage and mercy and is a valued member of the extended Salve family.

“Just the thought of Mrs. Johnson is really moving to me — I don’t know her well, so I won’t pretend to over-inflate my relationship with her — but I feel deeply honored to share a space with her, to learn from her and to feel her warmth,” her nominator wrote. “As a member of the MLK Week planning committee, I have the pleasure and honor to be in a space with Mrs. Johnson, who represents the NAACP of Newport County in our meetings. You can see Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy in Mrs. Johnson’s work.”

Victoria Johnson hugs President Dr. Kelli J. Armstrong as she receives her award.

Recipients of the 2024 Living the Mission Awards will be honored at Convocation on Wednesday, Sept. 4. All members of the Salve community are encouraged to nominate individuals who advance the mission through their leadership and service. Nominations will be accepted until Thursday, Aug. 1, by completing the nomination form.

Questions can be directed to missionintegration@salve.edu.