Honors student Ausa receives award

Lexe Ausa, originally from Pomona, NY, has been selected as the September 2025 Honors Student of the Month.

Department of Psychology Assistant Professor Elizabeth Mahar, who has been directing Ms. Ausa in two mentored research projects in her lab since January, filed the nomination.

Ausa, a senior double majoring in Music Therapy and Psychology, with a minor in Visual Arts and New Media, demonstrates outstanding academic achievement, including high-impact practices; continuous and significant contributions to campus; support of the Honors Living-Learning community; and persistence.

You are the one who shapes your college experience. If there is a passion you want to continue [to] pursue that is outside of your major, do it! If you've always wanted to try sports for the first time, join a club. If you've always wanted to conduct research but don't know where to start, ask." - Lexe Ausa

Mentored research and academic achievement awards

As Dr. Mahar’s nomination robustly demonstrates, Ausa stood out immediately as an engaged, motivated and intellectually curious student in Mahar’s Social Development course. 

Ausa also has “distinguished herself through her initiative, intellectual curiosity, and enthusiasm for research,” Mahar noted. On a mentored research project examining the relationship between pornography consumption patterns and personality traits, Ausa has consistently exceeded expectations. 

Not only has she “regularly completed tasks well ahead of schedule, often even before they are assigned, demonstrating her proactive work ethic and exceptional time management skills,” Mahar said, but she has also presented findings from this project at three academic conferences, earning the “Best Oral Presentation” award at the Western New York Undergraduate Psychology Conference. 

Ausa is currently completing a second project connected to Mahar’s lab. The project, examining the relationship between pornography myth endorsement and pornography consumption, seeks to understand how these myths may influence sexual behavior and how correcting them could mitigate harm.

That research proposal detailing this design won the competitive Carnahan Jackson Award for Student Research at Fredonia through the College of Liberal Arts.

As Mahar notes, “Ms. Ausa has already completed her research proposal, ethics application, programmed the study into Qualtrics and completed data collection. She will continue to work on the project throughout the Fall 2025 semester, during which she will assist with analysis and contribute to manuscript preparation. We intend to publish the findings from both of her projects.”

Contributions to the Honors Program and campus

Ausa, who credits Mahar for “igniting a passion for research I didn't know I had,” has channeled this passion into a new role tailored for her: the Student Scholarship, Creative Activities and Research (SSCAR) Intern for the Honors Program. Through her internship, she is increasing awareness of scholarships, research opportunities, high-impact experiences (study abroad, mentored research), and creative activities. 

Crucially, she is also helping first-year students understand what it takes to find, fund and pursue these opportunities. She is holding office hours to help students individually with their planning, and she is highlighting high-impact experiences Honors students have completed through a new FREDxHonors series. 

Ausa has also made significant contributions to campus as a volunteer  for the Peer Recruitment Program (Fall 2023 ad Fall 2024); a New Student Orientation Leader (Fall 2025), assisting incoming first-year and transfer students in their adjustment to life at SUNY Fredonia; as a Learning Assistant for Life Drawing I and II (August 2025 to present), assisting the professor in lecture material and aiding students’ development of life drawing skills; 

Also, as President and Social Media Chair of the Fredonia Figure Drawing Club (September 2024 to present), encouraging growth of club through organization of club events and fostering personal connections with club members; as PR Chair of the Fredonia Guitar Society (August 2025 to present), strengthening the club’s social media and on-campus presence by capturing photographs of club meetings and creating unique posters for club events; 

And, as Vendors Chair for Spectrum Entertainment (August 2024 to present), managing all communications between Spectrum and vendors and/or clubs; collaborating with E-Board in the creation of large, campus-wide events; and as Treasurer of the Renaissance Choir (January 2024 to May 2025), she oversaw budget and managed financial transactions of the club and participated in the creation of club events.

Ausa values the Honors Program for chances to develop transferable skills for her future career as a college professor. Through her internship, she has designed experiential-learning content for peers across disciplines. 

Her mentored research with Mahar has also  helped her “to develop critical thinking skills and gain experience with all aspects of the research process (e.g., developing an understanding of the relevant academic literature, coming up with a testable research question, obtaining ethics approval, preregistering hypotheses, analyzing data, presenting findings),” which will serve her well as she works this fall on her applications to graduate programs in psychology.

Ausa also values the unique curriculum of Honors seminars, such as Lisa Powell Fortna’s Resiliency and Leadership course, which provided her with many different theories and ways to shape the leader she wants to become. 

What advice does Ausa have for peers, both in and out of Honors?

“You are the one who shapes your college experience. If there is a passion you want to continue [to] pursue that is outside of your major, do it! If you've always wanted to try sports for the first time, join a club. If you've always wanted to conduct research but don't know where to start, ask.

“You can always change your routine or shape your experience differently at any point in time. It's never too late or early!”

In that vein, Ausa also celebrates the variety of opportunities Fredonia presents -- from art galleries, musical theater, classical and jazz concerts, to the annual research conventions like OSCAR and the presence of sports clubs. 

She also values being able “to buy fresh produce every Saturday [at the local farmers’ market] and support the small businesses in the area, which is something very important to me. Having so many opportunities both on and off campus has made me truly fall in love with the area and college.”

Graduate school and career plans

A graduate of North Rockland High School, Ausa is currently studying for the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) and applying to graduate programs in Social Psychology or Experimental Psychology for next fall. She also looks forward to next year to adopting a dog, either a Pit Bull, a Chihuahua or both.

Ausa is delighted by the honor and thanks Mahar for her support “through all the questions, conferences and presentations I've done” and notes that she is “beyond grateful to have been able to work with her during my time in undergrad.”

The Honors Student of the Month Program is a collaboration between the Honors Program and the Honors House, which is part of the Office of Residence Life. The student selected by the committee as the Honors Student of the Month receives a gift card to the bookstore and a certificate.

In addition, the student’s name is engraved on a plaque that will be displayed in the Office of Residence Life.