SUNY Orange Names 698 Sojourner Truth Award Recipients; Ceremony Set March 6

SUNY Orange announced on February 20, 2026 that it will recognize 698 Orange County students in grades 6–12 with the 2026 Sojourner Truth Awards, with a ceremony set for Friday, March 6 at 6:00 p.m. in the Physical Education Center on the college’s Middletown campus. The college described the program as honoring students for leadership, character, civic responsibility and community service.

Yaa Yaa Whaley-Williams will serve as keynote speaker at the March 6 event. SUNY Orange materials describe her this way: “Yaa Yaa Whaley-Williams, a New York City native and visionary curator of Sadie’s Mobile Bookseum, the first Black-owned bookstore in Middletown, will serve as keynote speaker for the awards ceremony. With more than 20 years of experience in education and community leadership, she currently serves as a supervisor of instructional services with Ulster BOCES and this past Summer was appointed by Governor Kathy Hochul to the SUNY Orange Board of Trustees.”

SUNY Orange framed the awards as a long-running county program: “For the past 36 years, Orange County Community College has honored the legacy of Sojourner Truth by celebrating the achievements of its youth.” The college’s published materials and district listings note that students are nominated by school guidance counselors and principals and recognized across a set of categories intended to spotlight varied forms of excellence.

Program materials specify the nomination and award categories: “The Sojourner Truth awards recognize students nominated by school guidance counselors and principals for excellence in areas such as athletics, citizenship, creative arts, diversity, English language arts, foreign languages, perseverance, science, and technology. The program aims to promote education positively and inspire students to view college as a realistic and attainable goal.” SUNY Orange lists the recipients as drawn from grades 6–12 across Orange County middle and high schools.

SUNY Orange and district excerpts published with the announcement include sample recipient lists. An Orange-Ulster BOCES excerpt names Riley Aquino, Diana Bazan, Lilianna Bernard, Olivia Bohr, Julianna Bonito, Matthew Brazee, Daniel Cibirka, Grace Coleman, Hailei Conklin, Vramel Currie, Gabriella DeJesus, Natalia Doekhi, Collin Fahey, Dayanara Garcia, Hazel Gutierrez, Alyssa Hendershot, Summer Jacobs, Dylan Kehoe Clark, Charlotte Langlitz, Julio Lema, Justin Minga Bermeo, Leo Nieto Romero, Dana Olmos, Ashley Ortiz-Soler, Emily Perricelli, Sofia Ricca, Corbin Riley, ...

A list of Chester Academy High School recipients provided with the release includes Dior Bailey, Danielle Boadu, Jefferson Chacon Jimenez, Vivian Corey, Savannah Curtis, Elizabeth Garcia, Lauren Higgins, Daniel Lai, Patrick Lai, Braelyn Melay, Jordan Nwachi, Tatiana Rojas-Brown, Jeremy Sanchez, Joseph Vega, and Karla Veltri.

Local school-district excerpts from the Warwick area identify recipients at S.S. Seward Institute and Warwick Valley schools. S.S. Seward Institute names Carlos (CJ) Davila, Myles Dawydko, Kenneth DeLarm, Winter Garcia, Isabella Ignaszewski, Ricardo Irineo Reyes, Lynnflor Lopez, Hannah Perez, Ernie Perlmutter, Sandra Sanchez Rojas, Xiomara Taylor, Vaneza Torres Valiente, Anali Vega, Lupita Velazquez Trinidad, Saniya Walker, Chloe Williams, Wayne Williams, and Jazmine Zapata. Warwick Valley Central School District listings include Dania Barillas, Brianna Bingham, Kayli Decker, Holly Frischknecht, Bianca Grzesik, Angel Gualan, Genesis Martinez, Kadence Redner, Helena Stone, Jaylen White, Bay Orr, and Leo Pang. Greenwood Lake Middle School recipients shown include Anastasia Barbadze and Vaida Oathout.

The 698 recipients for 2026 mark an increase from the prior year’s total of 661 winners in 2025. SUNY Orange’s site lists enrollment services at 845-341-4333 for general inquiries. The college’s publicly posted announcement provides partial, district-by-district excerpts of recipients; the full roster of all 698 names was not included in the published excerpts and can be requested from SUNY Orange enrollment or communications channels. The March 6 ceremony will present the awards and feature Whaley-Williams’ keynote remarks in the Middletown Physical Education Center.