LATROBE, PA – The Benedictine Leadership Studies (BLS) program recently hosted its annual BLS Awards Dinner, during which they unveiled the Abramovic Award for Leadership Excellence. Julia Sarnowski, a May 2023 graduate, received the award and an honorary donation was made on her behalf to a Saint Vincent College program.
Sarnowski is a Bridgeville native and a graduate of the accounting program. In addition to her participation in the BLS program, she was a member of the women’s soccer team, a Fred Roger’s Scholar and helped to reestablish the Health and Fitness Club. Sarnowski assisted in organizing a pilgrimage to the Pittsburgh shrines during her junior year and initiated the cemetery clean-up project with the help of Dr. Michael Krom, Director of the BLS program, Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Philosophy Department.
Created to honor the founder of the BLS program, Professor Mark Abramovic, the Abramovic Award will continue to be an annual award given to a BLS student who best exemplifies the mission of the program and demonstrates servant leadership. The awardee will receive a monetary amount to be donated to a Saint Vincent cause of their choice.
“Establishing the Abramovic Award is a fine way for the BLS program to honor our founder and those students who stand out for their dedication to servant leadership,” said Dr. Michael Krom. “I am thankful that in the award’s first year, we have in Julia Sarnowski such a fine witness to our program’s goal to form leaders rooted in the teachings of the Catholic Church and in Benedictine spirituality.”
On behalf of Sarnowski, over $2,000 will be given to the stained-glass studio operated by Br. Mark Floreanini, O.S.B., Associate Professor of Art. “Br. Mark selflessly shares his talent of glass work with anyone who is interested and continuously strives to beautify our campus through his stained glass,” explained Sarnowski during her acceptance speech. “Br. Mark will continue exercising stewardship and the principle of ora et labora¾latin for “pray and work”¾for many years to come, and he will inspire other to exercise these virtues.”
About the Benedictine Leadership Studies program
The Benedictine Leadership Studies program is a virtue-based, ethical structure for the study of leadership. Grounded in the Benedictine Wisdom Tradition, the mission of the program is to form leaders rooted in the teachings of the Catholic Church and in Benedictine spirituality. The program was recently named the best program in the country for Mission Integration by the Association for Student Affairs at Catholic Colleges and Universities. You can learn more about the program at https://www.stvincent.edu/academics/special-programs/benedictine-leadership-studies.html.