Several graduates of the Department of Sociology were honored at the College of Social Sciences annual awards ceremony May 2009. Awards bestowed included the Social Justice Scholarship Award, the Jerroll M. Seaman "Spirit of Gemeinschaft" Award, and the Dux Sociologicus Award.

Jerina Phillips, '09, was awarded the Social Justice Scholarship Award. Phillips is from East St. Louis, Illinois. As a social justice scholar, Jerina was involved in the greater New Orleans community in many different ways. As a freshman, she became co-chair of the Hunger Relief program through LUCAP, a position that she maintained until her junior year. Jerina also was heavily involved in the reformation of the education system in New Orleans by spending countless hours volunteering and tutoring at different charter schools in the New Orleans area. Jerina has participated in and helped plan different protests, including the Jena 6 march. After graduation, she attended Loyola University New Orleans' College of Law.

Megan Pitts, '09, was awarded the Jerrol M. Seaman “Spirit of Gemeinschaft” Award. Megan was from Boston, Massachusetts. She participated in various events promoting peace and social justice including the Protest at the School of the Americas and the Jena-6 Rally. She also worked with fellow students from her “Living Learning Community” to help gut and clean up the home of a Loyola Faculty member, destroyed by Katrina. After graduation, Megan planned to work in the non-profit field.

Matthew Walaszek, '09, was awarded the Dux Sociologicus Award. Matthew was from the south-side of Chicago and was a double major in Sociology and Spanish, and has studied abroad in Mexico City, Mexico and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Some of his service activities included tutoring English to Spanish-speaking students and volunteering with Catholic Charities to gut and clean homes in devastated areas of New Orleans. He interned with a non-profit group called City-Works, an urban planning organization dedicated to the revitalization and long-term sustainable rebuilding of New Orleans' community, economy, and built environment. He assisted urban planners and architects in the redevelopment of targeted zones in the city while helping the director run the organization. Matthew planned to pursue a Master's Degree in Urban Planning and Policy.