作者：辛西娅·休伯特

2022年5月9日

2020年3月，当对冠状病毒迅速传播的担忧突然关闭了萨克州立大学的教室时，克里斯·马丁内斯感到失败了。 她想知道，回到家乡特雷西，远程学习是否会破坏她在校园建立起来的良好势头。

相反，她致力于教育和公共服务。

在特雷西身上，马丁内斯发现了她为有需要的人发声的声音，她组织了一场和平的“黑人的命也重要”抗议活动，并谈到了平等和包容。 She brought that passion to her 囊状态 studies, her outside activities, and to the 州大黄蜂 student newspaper, where she began writing about the pandemic’s impact on the campus community, particularly people of color.

“I realized that if I worked at it, I could actually influence people and have an impact.” ——克里斯·马丁内斯

Martinez, an honors student who will graduate in May with a degree in Political Science and Journalism, is the recipient of the 2022 Dean’s Award in the College of Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies.

The awards are given each year at Commencement to one student from each of 囊状态’s seven academic colleges.

Martinez’s nominators, led by Political Science Professor James Rae, praised her “remarkable academic achievements” and advocacy work, writing, “We are confident Chrissy will have a substantial impact on the local and national community.”

马丁内斯在Sac州立大学的平均成绩为3.96，是Pi Sigma Alpha荣誉协会的成员，她被选为5月21日SSIS学生毕业典礼的演讲嘉宾。

她参加了各种俱乐部和组织，包括大学民主党人、政治科学中的多元化女性和专业记者协会。 She received multiple awards for her work at the 大黄蜂, including Best 新闻 Staffer and Most Dedicated Journalist.

“My mottos are ‘speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,’ and ‘think globally, act locally,’ ” said Martinez, whose parents taught her about labor leader and activist Cesar Chavez. Activism “is kind of in my blood,” she said.

她选择Sac州立大学的部分原因是她可以攻读政治学和新闻学的双学位。

“I wanted to learn more about politics, and I wanted to explore it from all sides,” she said. She also “fell in love with the campus and the people,” she said. “Everyone was so kind and helpful.”

When the pandemic forced the campus into remote learning in early 2020, “I was scared,” she said.

“I was building myself up at 囊状态, and now I’m home without a lot to do.” But George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, lit a fire inside of her.

“I felt that it would be wrong if I didn’t use my voice to speak out,” Martinez said.

她组织了一场抗议活动，吸引了1000多人在特雷西游行，要求伸张正义。 该活动引发了城市领导人和选民之间的对话，并促成了青年咨询委员会和公平与赋权倡议的成立。

The effects of her efforts “brought me to tears,” Martinez said. “I realized that if I worked at it, I could actually influence people and have an impact.”

马丁内斯正在考虑未来可能包括竞选公职，新闻报道工作，或与民选官员一起实习。 她说她想在特雷西工作，在那里她第一次感受到鼓舞他人的满足感。

“I love my city, and my goal is to help create equity there,” she said.

2022年院长奖

• 卫生与公众服务部：利昂·伯恩斯将他的艰难经历转化为帮助他人的强大力量
• Education: Josue Vasquez’s mother had faith in him, and he rewarded it
• NSM：在地理领域取得成功并应对新冠肺炎挑战之后，丽贝卡·韦尔（Rebecca Vail）期待着一个更美好的世界