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2 Eastern seniors take home CSCU's top honor: Henry Barnard Award

Willimantic, CT (05/09/2025) — Eastern Connecticut State University has named its two 2025 recipients of the Henry Barnard Distinguished Student Award, the most prestigious undergraduate honor given by the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system. This year's honorees are senior mathematics major Ryan Toomey of Willington and senior English and psychology double-major Dana Arroyo Infante of Myrtle Beach, SC.

Eastern selects two graduating seniors for the Barnard Award each spring, contributing to an annual total of 12 across Connecticut's four state universities. Recipients of the award are nominated for their commitment to academic excellence, campus involvement, and community engagement.

Ryan Toomey

Toomey, a University Honors Scholar and member of Eastern's men's soccer team, was nominated by mathematics Professor Kim Ward, his faculty advisor. Among his involvements, Toomey has served as a peer advisor at the University's Academic Success Center (ASC) for all four years of his undergraduate experience.

"There are so many people here at Eastern who work extremely hard and deserve this award, so I am humbled to be named a recipient," said Toomey.

For his honors thesis, Toomey worked with education Professor Sudha Swaminathan, who served as his faculty mentor. "The time I spent with her working on that project was extremely beneficial to my growth, both inside and outside of the classroom," he said.

"Months were spent working within the campus preschool studying the impact of board games on the math abilities of bilingual preschool children," said Toomey of his thesis project.

"As principal investigator of multiple research projects, I have mentored more than 30 extremely capable undergraduate research assistants," said Swaminathan. "Ryan Toomey easily ranks among the top 1%."

As a student athlete with the men's soccer team, Toomey has served the Willimantic community as the team's community engagement coordinator since 2023. In this role, he coordinated more than 13 community events, totaling more than 500 service hours.

These efforts included assisting elementary schoolers with their reading development, volunteering at the local soup kitchen, leading youth soccer clinics, and organizing bone marrow drives, among others activities.

"As someone who was born and partially raised in Willimantic, it was special for me to be able to play a role in giving back," said Toomey.

While balancing all these commitments, Toomey has maintained a 4.0 GPA. He is proud to be named a Barnard Scholar but takes more pride in the experiences that led to this honor. "I am honored to be named a recipient, but the relationships I made with members of the Eastern community are what I really cherish and will carry with me," he said.

Toomey aims to become a secondary math teacher and will earn a master's degree in secondary education from Eastern in the 2025-26 academic year.

Dana Arroyo Infante

Arroyo Infante was nominated for the Barnard Award by faculty advisor Kristalyn Salters-Pedneault, professor of psychology. She is a first-generation college student who has fought long and hard for a quality education.

"I grew up in South Carolina where my access to education was limited and have had to face a lot of barriers while trying to pursue my undergraduate degrees," she said. "I am incredibly proud to be named a Barnard Scholar as a lesbian first-generation student of color."

Also holding a 4.0 GPA, Arroyo Infante is a member of multiple honor societies - the Psi Chi International Honor Society for psychology and the Sigma Tau Delta International Honor Society for English. Each membership reflects her outstanding scholarship.

Arroyo Infante also has a strong presence as a mentor in the psychology department. She spent three semesters in an independent study with psychology Professors Jennifer Leszczynski and Lyndsey Lanagan-Leitzel.

During this independent study, Arroyo Infante piloted a course supporting BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) students and improving retention within the department. She has also served as a research assistant under psychology Professor T. Caitlin Vasquez-O'Brien.

In the Department of English, Arroyo Infante received the Constance Campo Memorial Scholarship, worth $2,000, during her senior year. She was nominated by English Professor Daniel Donaghy as "a non-traditional student who has demonstrated excellence in their studies and has shown sensitivity to gender and diversity issues."

As she heads toward a doctoral program in psychology with the goal of becoming an eating disorder researcher, her status as a Barnard Scholar reflects her deep and varied commitments across campus.

"She exemplifies excellence in everything that she does, and I am excited to hear about her professional achievements after she graduates," wrote psychology Professor James Diller in his letter of recommendation.

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Eastern Connecticut State University is the state of Connecticut's public liberal arts university, serving upwards of 4,000 students annually on its Willimantic campus. A residential campus offering 41 majors and 68 minors, Eastern offers students a strong liberal arts foundation grounded in a variety of applied learning opportunities. Ranked among the top 25 public institutions in the North by U.S. News & World Report in its 2024-25 Best Colleges ratings, Eastern has also been awarded 'Green Campus' status by the Princeton Review 15 years in a row. For more information, visit www.easternct.edu.