Spring 2020 Golden Griffin Recipients

Greg Brown - Residence Life 

Student Health Center

Core Value: Professional Excellence 

During a catastrophic flood in Jefferson Hall that included exploding toilets and jets of water, Greg maintained a cool and collected demeanor while helping coordinate facilities management, students, and temporary assignments. His attention to detail, judgement, and caring for his residents throughout the incident and in the week of recovery that followed has been exemplary. 

 Even though the entire situation has been frustrating for all involved, he has been positive and always goes out of his way to mention and thank the efforts of other staff and departments. His professionalism reflects the best of our department when dealing with adversity and water... so much water. 

Alexis Michalos - Academic Enrichment 

Core Value: Professional Excellence

In her role as a graduate assistant in academic enrichment, Alexis has proven herself through outstanding efforts in the development of a Peer Academic Coaching program from its pilot phase to implementation. This peer support program for some of our most at-risk students is one in which they are coached to achieve academic success, social integration, and the development of self-advocacy. Alexis has served as an advocate, coach, cheerleader, and a trainer for other coaches in this program. 

Alexis has a regular following of students who look to her for her kind and caring way of teaching strategic learning material and time management techniques. Moreover, she volunteers her time to help other areas in Student Affairs including the Center for Student Diversity and Student Accessibility Services. The time and patience she takes to break things down to make things manageable for students gives them a sense of relief that things will get better. Indeed, Alexis is truly a model of professional excellence. 

Jenny Dunfee - Lindsay Heck, Colin Cross - Campus Recreation, Health & Wellness, Care Support Services 

Core Value: Professional Excellence

When William & Mary began the shift to remote learning, Jenny, Lindsay, and Colin immediately began working on creative ways to provide activities and programs to the William & Mary community. Within the span of 48 hours, they collaborated with University Web & Design and our fitness and wellness instructors to launch our Virtual Health & Wellness website. The first class had 160 participants! Jenny, Lindsay, and Colin continue to collaborate with colleagues across campus to provide live and recorded programs for our community. Campus Recreation departments across the country recognize it as one of the best resources available, and it serves as a model for other universities to emulate. We are so grateful to have these outstanding professionals working for the good of the W&M community. 

Dr. Patricia Roy - Counseling Center

Core Value: Professional Excellence 

Dr. Roy is a quiet force in the counseling center. Seeing students with the most significant mental health concerns, her professionalism during these last several weeks set a standard of care and excellence in the counseling center. During the time of transition, she continued to talk to up to 30 students per week. She thoughtfully developed appropriate medication plans for each student who returned home and worked to coordinate care with providers both in and out of state. Every student that has worked with Dr. Roy this semester smoothly transitioned the last several weeks without a misstep in their care. She goes above and beyond with each student in a way that makes them feel heard and validated in their treatment. She has demonstrated the values of student affairs and the counseling center and her students are always thankful for her expertise and compassion. 

Drew Stelljes - Student Engagement & Leadership 

Core Value: Collaboration 

While Drew consistently went above & beyond in making connections and emboldening our division before the pandemic altered our routines, he has meaningfully continued to do so since the beginning of remote work. Drew has provided ample professional development opportunities and spaces for  virtual interaction and community building. He actively connects with students and colleagues alike through check-ins and the weekly "Voices" discussion series. He has set up connections for staff Across Student Affairs with members of the Student Engagement and Leadership Advisory Board along with former Vice President Sam Sadler. He regularly reaches out to Graduate Assistants both within Student Engagement & Leadership and across the division. Drew truly exemplifies the spirit of collaboration by generously sharing time, expertise, and resources.  

Felicia Brown-Anderson - Counseling Center 

Core Values: Student Centeredness, Collaboration 

 Felicia has been remarkable in her support for students as W&M moved to online learning after spring break. She dedicated an incredible amount of energy to develop what has been a highly utilized resource section of the Counseling Center website focused on supporting our students in their adjustment to online learning. She also inspired staff to offer outreach groups and workshops based on students' needs, and invested hours toward creating the necessary system for students to learn about and register for the workshops. She attended to all the ethical, clinical, and logistical needs to develop this system integrating different ideas, feedback, and preferences from the staff. She has been instrumental in publicizing all the new programs the center is offering and in connecting the different offices and departments that could refer students to these resources. Felicia is most deserving of this recognition! 

Emily Estrada, Charles Freligh, April Martin - Counseling Center

Core Values: Student - Centeredness, Professional Excellence 

I would like to nominate this year's Counseling Center Interns Emily Estrada, Charles Freligh, and April Martin for their demonstration of Student Centeredness and Professional Excellence. This year's Interns have provided over 1,300 hours of direct service to W&M Counseling Center students. In the transition to working from home, the Interns have continued to provide excellent care to their individual clients, developed new skills to begin providing teletherapy, and have taken the lead in creating several original outreach presentations, webinars, and new virtual resources to assist students coping with the pandemic. They have done all this with positive attitudes and an eagerness to help whenever possible. For all of these reasons, and many more, we would like to recognize this year's Counseling Center Interns for their demonstration of the Student Affairs values of Student Centeredness and Professional Excellence.