Six Missouri State University students were recently honored with the 2025-26 Citizen Scholar Awards.
The award, established in 2007 as a special program of the MSU Board of Trustees, is the highest award the university offers to students. It honors those who have achieved academic success and exemplified the university’s public affairs mission.
The university’s faculty and staff submit nominations each fall.
“Our Citizen Scholars represent the best of Missouri State – leadership, service and purpose. They are true ambassadors of our university,” Dee Siscoe, vice chancellor for student affairs, said in the release.
Missouri State University Civic Scholars include (from left) Robert Thomas Gummersell, Sam Wang, Jessica Snell, Megan Bolen, Moira Lizarraga and Chandler Harris.
Citizen Scholar recipients are:
Megan Boren
Megan Bolen, a special education major, is an active member of Bears Lead, a college transition program for first-time college students. The Springfield junior also serves as a Bear POWER ambassador, mentoring students with disabilities and helping them navigate college.
Additionally, she is a member of the Missouri PRIDE Band, Bear Mania and Concert Band. After graduation, she plans to teach in elementary special education classrooms, then pursue a master’s degree in gifted education and eventually a doctorate in organizational leadership.
Robert Thomas Gummersell
Robert Thomas-Gumersell is a senior from Springfield majoring in communications. As a transfer student, he has been active in the Student Government Association (SGA), serving as the Director of University Affairs. He was also inducted into Tau Sigma, the national transfer student honor society.
Gummersell founded and runs RT’s Project Suitcase, a nonprofit that helps foster children who are about to enter the foster care system. After graduation, he plans to pursue a master’s degree and then start working as a university lecturer or professor. His long-term goal is to earn a PhD in higher education and enter higher education administration, eventually becoming a university dean or college dean.
Chandler Harris
Chandler Harris is a senior from Rogers, Arkansas, majoring in entertainment management and pursuing an accelerated MBA. He has served as president of the Recreation Management Association since his sophomore year. He runs his own freelance production company, with clients including Walmart and 21C Hotels.
Additionally, he serves on the board of directors of Home for Dining Inc., a nonprofit organization that assists veterans in Northwest Arkansas. After graduation, he plans to either work in operations management for an entertainment company or focus on growing his own business.
Moira Lizarraga
Before coming to Missouri to study communications, Moira Lizarraga was an accomplished educator and public servant in Bolivia and the recipient of the 2020 Teacher of the Year Award. She also served on the Santa Cruz City Council.
As a graduate assistant in the Graduate School, she served as the bilingual liaison for the university’s first master’s degree program offered entirely in Spanish. Additionally, she serves on the board of directors of the Lyric Opera of the Ozarks. Her next step after graduation is to pursue a PhD in communications.
Jessica Snell
Jessica Snare is an Honors College student double majoring in Information Technology Cybersecurity and IT Infrastructure. She founded and directed the information technology and cybersecurity Cyber Cubs youth technology summer camp program.
The senior from Warrensburg is also president of the Business Information Technology Student Association and manager and co-captain of the Missouri State University Cyber Defense Competition team. After graduation, she will work in an IT role at ConocoPhillips.
Sam Wang
Sam Wang is an Honors College student majoring in Anthropology who serves on the SGA staff, where he currently serves as Vice President of the Student Body, former Chief of Staff, and Chief Sustainability Specialist. As an AmeriCorps member, Wang works closely with the Bear Food Pantry on campus. he’s from springfield
While interning at the Ozarks Poverty Research Center, he directed the center’s virtual reality poverty immersion program. After graduation, Wang plans to pursue master’s and doctoral degrees in applied anthropology, with the goal of teaching in higher education while being active in the nonprofit sector.
This article originally appeared in the Springfield News-Leader: Missouri honors 6 student leaders with Civic Scholars Awards
