
The 2024-2025 Co-President of the Rutgers Public Speaking Organization, Navya Sharma, who graduated in May 2025, won the Revolutionary Award, a Chancellor's Leadership Award, for her exceptional and sustained contributions to the RPSO.
“I am so incredibly honored to have received this award,” Sharma said. “I feel as though my hard work was seen and acknowledged. The award was granted to me by Rutgers University -New Brunswick Chancellor Francine Conway, and I am so proud to have been recognized by her and her team. During the ceremony, a description of my contributions towards RPSO was read aloud, and I was invited on stage to receive a glass trophy with my name on it.”
The Revolutionary Award recognizes a student who has served in a campus leadership position for a program that provides a high level of peer mentoring or leadership in connection to fostering learning opportunities. The winner must also be able to demonstrate that their leadership resulted in a long-term impact on their organization.
Assistant Teaching Professor of Communication and alumna Erin Christie, Ph.D’14, faculty advisor for the Rutgers Public Speaking Organization, the Rutgers Debate Union, and Women in Communication, said Sharma was involved in RPSO beginning in her freshman year, rising from a general member to her role as co-president.
“Throughout the years,” Christie said, “Navya passionately aimed to help grow RPSO's membership through strategic outreach and promotions, along with support for our competitive team by consistently mentoring new members through feedback and support as they prepare for competitions. Navya also represented the organization at events like COMMchella, the Involvement Fair, the department's annual Public Speaking Competition, and SC&I Student Acceptance Day, to build awareness and foster engagement.”
Sharma said her involvement in RPSO “significantly bolstered my confidence. Prior to RPSO, I was timid and reserved and had trouble approaching people. RPSO helped me crawl out of my shell. I was able to vocalize more and build meaningful connections with classmates and staff. My involvement in the club also enhanced my leadership skills; I started out as a director of business administration and then became co-vice president, then co-president. Through these various leadership roles within the club, I learned how to lead and organize a team and coordinate events, activities, and workshops. These skills translated over to other roles I held in college as well—for instance, my job as a learning assistant for the Computer Science department, and my role as co-director of logistics for TEDxRutgers. The leadership and public speaking skills I had developed through RPSO helped me excel in these other roles as well. Now that I have graduated and am beginning my full-time job, I anticipate that these skills will help me thrive in the workplace. I have become better at communicating and listening, which are crucial in any work environment. My job will entail presenting projects to my team and manager, which I feel incredibly prepared for thanks to RPSO. I cannot wait to expand my professional network with the confidence and speech skills I have gained.”
Sharma said Christie was “monumental” to her success both within RPSO and her overall academic career at Rutgers.
“She has been an amazing advisor and mentor,” Sharma said. “Having been involved with RPSO for many years, she has always made an effort to join nearly each and every one of our meetings and contributed to the planning and execution of events and activities we have held. She has diligently attended every in-person competition we have had and offered us support and guidance, both on a personal level and academic level. During my junior year of college, she vouched for me and my co-president Emilie Puja to be awarded a scholarship by Rutgers for our contributions to RPSO. She is also the primary reason I received a Chancellor's Leadership Award, having nominated me for it. She has always supported each and every one of us and vouched for our success, which I am eternally grateful to her for.”
Explaining how the RSPO impacted her experience as an undergraduate, Sharma said, “RPSO has genuinely left a life-long imprint on me. The confidence I have gained through this club is something that will carry over into my post-graduate years. It is something that will stick with me as I embark on my journey into adulthood, and into the professional, working world. On a professional level, it has given me the confidence to approach people, make connections, and expand my network. It has also taught me how to construct a speech and deliver a presentation that speaks to and engages audience members with diverse interests. On a social level, it has helped me become more outgoing and converse naturally with others. I will miss this club immensely, but I am so grateful that it is in good hands with Dr. Christie and the rest of the new, incoming board members. I hope that other students will give this club a chance, as I guarantee it will benefit them as much (if not more) than it benefitted me.”
The RPSO, Christie said, is dedicated to helping Rutgers students develop skills and experience that make public speaking an enjoyable challenge. She also noted that these same skills are also transferable to many “real world” public speaking scenarios, such as job interviewing, presenting, networking, and many others.
“We thank the university for this honor and are so very proud of Navya and RPSO!” said Christie.
Learn more about the Rutgers Public Speaking Organization and the Communication Department at the Rutgers School of Communication and Information on the website.