Canisius Senior is Inaugural Recipient of ALANA Achievement Award

April 15, 2013

BUFFALO, NY – The Canisius University ALANA Student Center will recognize Dorian Dallas, from the Canisius Class of 2013, with its inaugural ALANA Achievement Award. The ALANA Achievement Award recognizes the accomplishments of a graduating African American, Latino/a American, Asian American or Native American (ALANA) student who exemplifies the Jesuit value of magis (more) through academic excellence, leadership, character and service.

An adolescence English education major, Dallas is a leading student and scholar in the college’s ULLC (Urban Leadership Learning Community) Program, and is in excellent academic standing. He maintains a 3.6 grade point average.

Dallas is active in the life of Canisius University and has served in various student leadership positions. His ULLC peers elected him to serve as council member, a role which involved him in key decisions that impact the entire ULLC Program. Dallas admirably represented Canisius and the ULLC at recruitment engagements and at campus and community events. He is a spiritual leader in the Office of Campus Ministry, where he coordinates student retreats and prayer groups. Dallas also participated in two of campus ministry’s Alternative Spring Break trips to Appalachia.

In the greater Western New York community, Dallas has advocated for the visually impaired at the Olmstead Center for Sight. As a volunteer at Concerned Ecumenical Ministries, Dallas worked in the after-school program for low income and refugee families, and developed workshops on leadership and teamwork. At his own parish, Greater Hope Baptist Church, he served as a youth leader. He is a past volunteer at the Lutheran Church Home, where he helped care for the residents. Even during his study abroad in London, Dallas served the poor at the Bloomsbury Baptist Church.

The ALANA Student Center will present Dallas with the ALANA Achievement Award during Spring Honors Convocation on Friday, May 17.

For more information, contact the Office of Public Relations at 888-2790.

One of 28 Jesuit universities in the nation, Canisius is the premier private university in Western New York.