Student earns first Tony Cantú President’s Medallion

In honor of Fresno City College’s late president, student Sukhvinder Kaur was awarded the inaugural Tony Cantú President’s Medallion at the Dean’s Medallion Recognition Ceremony on Thursday.

Cantú, who died in early April, was also honored with the creation of a memorial scholarship by family and colleagues, endowed with $40,000 through the State Center Community College Foundation.

Kaur, one of eight Dean’s Medallion winners for 2015, also received a $500 scholarship presented by Cantú’s nephew, Juan Cantú.

When Kaur came to the U.S. from India in 2005, she struggled to learn English and find a job. After attending Reedley College and receiving the news that she was admitted into the radiologic technology program at Fresno City, Kaur made the difficult decision to send her three small children to India while she completed her studies in the rigorous program.

She will be graduating with honors on May 22 with an Associate in Science degree. The first person in her family to graduate from college, Kaur plans to leave the day after graduation for India so she can bring her children back to the U.S.

This story was originally published May 15, 2015 at 7:49 PM with the headline "Student earns first Tony Cantú President’s Medallion."