McConney Award recipient Moraya Sorimar Bautista with President Stephen H. Kolison Jr.
Award recognizes Educational Opportunity Program students for academic excellence and perseverance
SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. recently recognized 49 students who received the award, including SUNY Fredonia’s Moraya Sorimar Bautista.
The award, which is an annual tradition now in its seventh year, recognizes outstanding EOP students for their academic merit and perseverance.
Moraya is a junior majoring in Psychology with minors in History and Spanish, and a graduate of Dunkirk (NY) High School. She has been an Orientation Peer Advisor since 2024 for the EOP Jewel Program at SUNY Fredonia, a SUNY Fredonia Summer Orientation Leader, a Collegiate First-Year Student Mentor for the Department of Psychology since August 2025 and has conducted an orientation event at Reed Library to introduce first- year students to library resources. She also works in Faculty Student Association Dining Services as a Student Leader, and as a Circulation Desk Worker in Reed Library. Moraya was inducted into Psi Chi, the international honor society in psychology, has been named to the Dean’s List, and received the Jeffrey J. Wallace Scholarship established through the Fredonia College Foundation.
In accepting the award, Moraya noted, “This award truly means so much to me because it reflects the personal growth I've experienced along the way. I'm incredibly grateful to the EOP staff for seeing that growth and giving me the opportunity to part of a supportive community.”
She is exploring careers in public health, counseling, case worker and/or any other opportunities to work with people.
EOP Director Rachel Skemer noted in her nomination that Moraya has “fully taken advantage of the opportunities provided to her as an EOP student, consistently pushing herself toward excellence.”
In a letter of support, a faculty member added, “what stands out most to me is Moraya’s dedication to excellence and to creating a time management structure, which allows her to be highly successful in all her studies.”
“Over nearly 60 years, SUNY’s EOP has supported tens of thousands of students and empowered them to achieve their full potential,” SUNY Chancellor King said. “I am honored to recognize this year's recipients of the Norman R. McConney Jr. Award for Student Excellence. Our McConney award winners’ hard work as they move forward on their path to academic excellence and upward mobility makes them an inspiration for all of our students, faculty, staff, and administrators.”
The SUNY Board of Trustees said, “The Educational Opportunity Program continues to offer students statewide the support and guidance on their path to a college degree. We are proud to recognize the recipients of this year's Norman R. McConney Jr. Award for Student Excellence for their hard work and perseverance during their academic journeys. SUNY is grateful to Governor Kathy Hochul and the State Legislature for their continued support of SUNY, and our EOP students.”
In addition to celebrating the accomplishments of current SUNY EOP students, Chancellor King recognized State Assembly member Latrice Walker, a graduate of SUNY Purchase and EOP alum, with an honorary Norman R. McConney Jr. Award due to her long-standing commitment to support the EOP program and serve as a leader and inspiration for all SUNY students.
At the awards ceremony event, Assemblymember Walker served as keynote speaker and celebrated the accomplishments of the award recipients as well as the faculty and staff who support all EOP students.
About the award and EOP
The award is named in honor of Norman R. McConney Jr., a 1971 graduate of the State University of New York at Albany and former Assistant Dean for Special Programs at SUNY. Mr. McConney is also credited with helping found the Black and Puerto Rican Legislative Caucus, which later became the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative Caucus. McConney, alongside former Assembly Deputy Speaker Arthur O. Eve, helped create EOP as a statewide program.
Since its inception in 1967, SUNY’s Arthur O. Eve Educational Opportunity Program has provided access, academic support, and supplemental financial assistance to students from disadvantaged backgrounds, many of whom are the first in their families to attend college. In its 58-year history, EOP as graduated nearly 90,000 students and served as one of the country’s most successful college access programs. EOP eligibility is based on income and academic readiness. EOP currently serves more than 9,000 students across 55 SUNY campuses. More information about SUNY’s EOP can be found online.
