• Little Big Horn College, ….
• Little Big Horn College, Anna Ten Bear, Crow Agency. Ten Bear volunteers at the campus Greenhouse and Bookstore, where she organizes books, assists customers and students, and contributes several hours each week to keeping a welcoming space. She volunteers working with cattle, assisting with feeding, herding, and the hands-on work of tending to animals in the field and in the mountains. Anna brings energy and heart to everything she does. She is a hard worker who leads by example and serves as a positive example of what it looks like to push through challenges and keep moving toward your goals.
• Miles Community College, Chrystean Logan, Miles City. Logan has served her community since high school and has carried that commitment into her freshman year of college. She has been active with the Miles City Bandits Special Olympics teams and the local Meals on Wheels program, staed volunteer tables at the Miles City Christmas Stroll, and volunteered with the MCC softball team to read to children at Highland Park Elementary School. When asked about her volunteerism, Logan says it makes her “big time happy,” and her service reflects her future commitment to a career in occupational therapy.
• Montana State University Billings, Gavin Lee, Billings. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, Lee is out in the community volunteering. His biggest commitment is to Eagle Mount in Billings, traveling over an hour each way to give his time to people with disabilities. He volunteers through his church and on campus, and over the last two semesters has accumulated the most logged service hours of any student at MSUB! What really sets him apart is how much he invests in others: at every opportunity, he recruits his peers to join him in serving, making everyone around him feel seen and valued for the work they do.
• Montana State University Bozeman, Kollen Pipinich, Belgrade. Over three years at MSU, Pipinich has contributed more than 500 hours of volunteer service. His most significant involvement is as a mentor with FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics, where he logged over 440 hours as a State Championship volunteer and Robot Inspector, helping high school students with robot design, programming, and competition preparation. He has contributed more than 70 additional hours through Circle K International and Kiwanis across Montana and in Denver and Pittsburgh. A first-generation college student, Pipinich also rebuilt MSU’s Circle K chapter – growing it from two active members to 15.
• Montana State University Northern, Jalia Haley-Giard, Havre. Haley-Giard volunteers with the Red Cross as a duty o_cer associate, training people across Idaho, Montana and Eastern Oregon to prepare for disaster events, including shelter management, evacuation coordination, and communications. Her enthusiasm for undergraduate research has generated enough momentum that MSU-Northern is hosting a summer research project in Integrated Health Sciences for the very first time, creating paid positions for students in the process. Beyond these commitments, Jalia volunteers online to assist people with blindness through Be My Eyes, classify scientific data through Zooniverse, and counsel people in crisis through Crisis Text Line.
• Montana Technological University, Hayden Diekhans, Geraldine. Since August 2025, Diekhans volunteered 15 hours per week as the student alumni outreach coordinator at the Montana Tech Foundation, coordinating donor and alumni outreach through phone calls that directly support the success of both the Foundation and the campus. As a member of the Montana Tech basketball team, he brings the same passion to the court that he brings to his volunteering. Service and community engagement reflect his character in everything he does at Montana Tech.
Salish Kootenai College, Sarah Cochran, Billings. From 2025 to 2026, Cochran served as Student Senate president at Salish Kootenai College, advocating for student needs and strengthening the connection between campus and community. She also serves as the SKC Graduate Honoring Powwow Ambassador, helping organize culturally significant events that bring people together, and completed an internship with Safe Harbor as a Community Advocacy and Administrative Intern, supporting individuals navigating trauma and instability. Her work is rooted in a deep commitment to Indigenous communities. As Cochran says, “I strive to speak up for Tribal communities and promote a vibrant, healthy, and functioning life for Indigenous peoples.”
• University of Montana, Katia Chavez, Albuquerque, N.M. Since her freshman year, Chavez has been a committed volunteer with Soft Landing Missoula, supporting high school refugee students as a tutor and contributing to Women’s Swim Nights for Muslim women. On campus, she helped reactivate both the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/ Hispanics & Native Americans in Science and Advancing Indigenous Science and Engineering Society student chapters at UM. Chavez is a key leader in the Latiné Student Union supporting her fellow students by holding multiple o_ce hours. Beyond campus, she contributes to Spanish-language radio programming for a nonprofit station and has built a record of conservation service through songbird banding, wildlife education, and as a wildlife technician with the USDA Forest Service. she builds community wherever she goes.
• University of Montana Western, Grace Linton, Frenchtown. Linton is a highly respected student leader at Montana Western who serves in a remarkable range of campus roles: TRIO Peer Advisor, campus ambassador, president of the Cauldron Club, Pacific Islander Club o_cer, Peers Advocating Towards Health (PATH) Leader promoting healthy choices, senator in student government, and member of the American Indian Minority Achievement committee. She helps plan and lead TRIO events, assists with campus tours, and is currently helping organize the Student Leadership Conference. She steps up whenever she is needed, consistently going above and beyond for both students and sta, and her genuine care for her peers makes her a standout leader.
