Albany, NY — The State University of New York held its 2026 Awards Ceremony for all of its SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence recipients Monday at the Albany Capital Center, which included two Hawks student-athletes in women's lacrosse senior Morgan Atwater (Political Science) and field hockey senior Madeline Meyer (Psychology).
 
The SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence acknowledges students for outstanding achievements that have demonstrated the integration of SUNY excellence into different aspects of their lives including academics, leadership, diversity, equity, inclusion & justice, campus involvement, civics & service, research & development, or creative and performing arts, which includes athletics. It is the highest honor bestowed upon a student by the University.
 
Atwater and Meyer were two of four selected from SUNY New Paltz and become the first pair of student-athletes to be named in the same year since 2015 when women's lacrosse's Fatima Ismail and field hockey's Alyssa Stock were honored. The most recent honoree was Elias Elcock (men's lacrosse '25).
 
Atwater, a senior captain for the Hawks women's lacrosse team, excelled both academically and athletically throughout her career at SUNY New Paltz. She is a three-time All-SUNYAC recipient, including First-Team honors, along with SUNYAC Midfielder of the Year last season while also being named as an All-Empire Region Second Team selection. Atwater is also a seven-time Academic Honor Roll recipient, IWLCA All-Academic selection, a member of the Chi Alpha Sigma Honor Society and she received the prestigious Centrino Scholarship in 2024. She has contributed to six major research projects through the Benjamin Center and IDMH and presented at the 2025 Student Research Symposium. She will graduate Summa Cum Laude this May with a degree in Political Science before she attends law school.
 
Meyer came back from injury this past fall and was one of the best defenders in the SUNYAC, earning her first nod to the All-SUNYAC list as she was awarded first team all-conference. While balancing her life on the field, she excelled in evolutionary psychology research, playing a crucial role in the New Paltz Evolutionary Psychology Lab and serves as an assistant for Evolutionary Studies. Her honors thesis was published in Psychology Today. She is vice president of Psi Chi, treasurer of the Evolutionary Studies Club, and an Executive Board member of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). She will graduate this May with a degree in Psychology and plans to attend graduate school to pursue a master's in psychology.


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