The Department of Sociology is proud of all its graduates.  Every year, the faculty award three different awards.  The Academic Excellence Award is given to students who achieve the highest GPA in their major (above 3.75 on a 4.0 scale).  The Departmental Service Award is given to students who, in the estimation of the faculty, have made a significant contribution to student life or some other aspect of the Sociology Department.  The Chester L. Rash Award is named for a Sociology Department faculty member who died in 1990, and whose personal and professional life epitomized achievement despite daunting obstacles.  The faculty gives this award to individual students who have demonstrated impressive growth and development during their studies at Old Westbury, particularly in the face of personal or family adversity.