Good News: UCM Seniors Hall, Robertson Honored With 2025 Charno Award

Recognized for their academic excellence and strong community involvement, University of Central Missouri (UCM) seniors Marie Hall and Alyssa Robertson are the recipients of the 2025 Charno Award, the most prestigious honor given to UCM students.

The Charno Award is presented annually to the top citizens at UCM. It honors George Charno Sr., a Kansas City attorney who established the award in 1940, followed by a second award in 1941, to recognize the two outstanding members of the senior class. 

Hall and Robertson were recognized at the 85th annual Who’s Who at UCM and Charno Awards ceremony on April 10 in the Elliott Student Union. Awards were announced by Shari Bax, Ph.D., vice president of Student Experience and Engagement, and presented by Roger Best, Ph.D., university president. The recipients will also be recognized during the Spring 2025 Commencement ceremonies on May 9-10 in the Jerry M. Hughes Athletics Center in Warrensburg.

Hall, an Anthropology major from Grain Valley, Missouri, has excelled in leadership, academia and community involvement. She took full advantage of every opportunity presented to her while studying at the University of Central Missouri.

She served as president of Central Missouri Academic Collegiate Scholars, communications officer of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, and a Blue Springs City Theatre board member. She has also been actively involved in numerous other organizations throughout her college career, including the Honors College, Clay Club, Symphonic Band, and Marching Mules. She is an engaged member of her department, with membership in the Anthropology Club, Lambda Alpha, the American Anthropological Association, and the Society for East Asian Anthropology, to name just a few.

Hall participated in almost 200 activities on and off campus and took every Anthropology course offered at UCM in an effort to learn everything she could from department faculty. Her schedule has been busy the last four years because Hall is passionate about being involved, meeting new people and trying new things. 

“I feel like that's really important to the college experience that you are learning from new people and learning about yourself through the things that you're trying and exposing yourself to,” Hall said. “UCM does such an amazing job of putting on different events for students, I just wanted to be a part of that. I didn't want to leave here feeling that I hadn't seen the heart of UCM and seeing what it was about, and I definitely feel that my involvement has allowed me to develop such a deep connection to UCM.”

Hall has been employed at the McClure Archives and University Museum, as a Housing Community Advisor, and a substitute teacher in the Grain Valley School District. 
 
Remarkably, she has accomplished all of this while achieving a perfect 4.0 cumulative and departmental grade point average.

Robertson, an Agricultural Science major from Clinton, Missouri, is an incredibly accomplished student who has been actively involved in the campus and community in numerous ways. 

She has served in several leadership positions during her time at the University of Central Missouri, including president and public relations officer of Collegiate Farm Bureau, vice president of Delta Tau Alpha, and secretary of the Collegiate Cattlemen’s Club. She has been a member of numerous clubs and organizations both on and off campus, including The Ellis Foundation, Agriculture Future of America, and the National FFA Organization. During her time with these organizations, she participated in several activities that benefited the community. 

Embracing leadership roles and participating in valuable experiences in and out of the classroom have helped Robertson grow during her time at UCM. She’s passionate about helping people, whether through encouraging other club officers and members, serving the community or talking to legislators about challenges facing the agriculture industry.

“Coming into college is a little bit scary. You don’t know what clubs you’re going to be involved in, you don’t know what college life looks like,” Robertson said. “So coming in and getting involved, it’s been amazing. I love the opportunity to get to travel. It’s really grown me as a person, and I’m kind of sad to graduate after all the opportunities I’ve gotten.”

She has been employed at the Mule Post and completed internships at the Missouri Department of Agriculture and Dairy Farmers of America.  

While balancing all of these commitments, she has consistently maintained an excellent grade point average.

Four Charno Award finalists were selected from the 2025 Who’s Who recipients. Each year, the university recognizes a small number of students from the senior class for their outstanding achievements. Faculty, staff, and student organizations submit nominations. From these nominations, the Awards Selection Committee selects those to be honored. Selection is based on leadership, scholarship, character, involvement in campus organizations and extra-curricular activities, service to the university, and involvement in one's academic department.

This year’s Who’s Who recipients are Hall; Robertson; Zoey Carpenter, Art Education, Salt Lake City, Utah; Karlie Franklin, Speech-Language Pathology, Sedalia, Missouri; Wesley Freeman, Theatre, Belton, Missouri; Mary Frerking, Marketing, Concordia, Missouri; Cameron Graves, Elementary Education, Camdenton, Missouri; Donavan Hoyes, Accountancy, Sweet Springs, Missouri; Ashley Robinson, Kinesiology, Kansas City, Kansas; Rylee Simmons, Marketing, Excelsior Springs, Missouri; Aka'Ne Tinsley, Kinesiology, Blue Springs, Missouri; Nora Van Asten, Management, Louisburg, Kansas; Alyssa Warnecke, Elementary Education, Washington, Missouri; and Dylan White, Mathematics and Secondary Education, Wildwood, Missouri. Charno finalists were Hall, Robertson, Hoyes and Robinson.

UCM student Marie Hall of Grain Valley, left, poses for a photo with UCM President Roger Best, Ph.D., at the 2025 Charno Award reception and awards ceremony. Photo credit: UCM

Fourteen students were selected for the 2025 Who’s Who at UCM honor. Not pictured is Aka'Ne Tinsley. Photo credit: UCM