SASP Announces 2025 Kinsman and Courage Awards

The Student-Athlete Success Program would like to celebrate the 2025 Kinsman Award and Courage Award winners.

The Donald Kinsman Award is named after the original director of the Student-Athlete Success Program (formerly known as the Counseling Program for Intercollegiate Athletes). This award is given annually to honor holistic development with respect to academic achievement and/or improvement, athletic achievement and/or improvement, leadership, service, and evidence of character.

The Courage Award is given to a Husky who exemplifies courage in their own handling of personal challenge or adversity or demonstrates courageous citizenship through support of their peers or community in a formidable situation.

With an incredibly talented group of student-athletes, we are honored to recognize four student-athletes for these highly prestigious awards. Please join us in celebrating Kinsman winners: Lexi Hastings and Travis Roux and Courage winners: Raquel Rosa and Hector Alejandro, all of whom are representatives of the true spirit of UConn athletics.

Lexi Hastings- Kinsman Award

Scholar. Record holder. Conference champion. Rising graduate student. Employee. Advocate. Player of the Year. Student. Survivor. Captain.

These are just a few of the titles and accomplishments that begin to tell the story of Alexis "Lexi" Hastings—her impact on the University of Connecticut, her influence on those around her, and her well-earned recognition as a 2025 Dr. Donald A. Kinsman Award winner.

Lexi holds herself to a standard of excellence that's both rare to initiate and difficult to sustain. She demands the best of herself in the classroom, the weight room, on the field, and in every personal and professional relationship she builds.

Long before she arrived in Storrs, Lexi overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles. With a ferocious grit and deeply empathic authenticity, she has not only persevered but made the most of every opportunity. She heavily views her experience in the classroom, athletic facilities, and community as transformative, and seeks to create those same transformative experiences and opportunities for others. She has tremendous character and is calculated in her efforts to improve herself and the systems around her.

Academically, Lexi has earned multiple appearances on the University of Connecticut Dean's List and the Director of Athletics Honor Roll. Her GPA is impressive, and her dedication in her Sport Management major and across her curriculum has earned her admission to several graduate programs. She has chosen to continue her education at UConn, where she will pursue a Master's in Higher Education and Student Affairs.

Athletically, Lexi's achievements are historic. She holds UConn school records in both career stolen bases and runs scored, recently adding Big East Conference record holder for career regular season hits to her resume. At various points in her career, she has led UConn Softball in nearly every offensive category, has been honored as Big East Player of the Year, and was named to the All-Region Team.

To understand Lexi's work ethic: during the 2024 season, she hit two inside-the-park home runs—described by her head coach as "an extremely rare and special play…12 of the most exciting seconds in the game." These moments weren't earned on competitors' errors; they were earned through awareness, preparation, risk-taking, and capitalizing on every opportunity. The same can be said for every part of her life. Lexi's path is filled with her own "inside-the-park home runs"—not handed to her but crafted through hard work and vision.

Off the field, Lexi's impact continues to shine. She's been deeply involved in community and student-athlete development initiatives, including Team IMPACT, the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, and an internship with Husky Advantage, where she has developed life skills workshops for both college students and young adolescents. She has attended multiple NCAA conferences, worked in UConn's Facilities and Operations, founded and directed her own youth softball summer camp, and interned with Hartford Athletic, where she supported game-day operations, ticketing, sponsorships, and overall team management.

Dr. Kinsman once wrote that opportunity must be respected. Lexi's respect for opportunity may be unmatched. She approaches every challenge with relentless effort and reflects on each experience with genuine gratitude. Lexi is, above all, an extraordinary person, and additionally an exceptional representative of the University of Connecticut. It is the great honor of the Student-Athlete Success Program to name her a 2025 Donald A. Kinsman Award recipient.

Travis Roux- Kinsman Award

When you have an outgoing leader who is exceptional, there can be a sense of instability, concern, or unrest as the new leader enters their role. At the end of the 2023-2024 academic year, the position of President with the Student Athlete Advisory Committee was going to be vacant. Travis Roux was overwhelming selected for the role. As Travis began his tenure, it was immediately clear why.

Travis is a calm, focused, dedicated student-athlete who demonstrates excellent leadership on his team and in his SAAC role. Travis has grown immensely as a student over the course of his career, garnering multiple Director of Athletics Honor Roll awards, Big East All-Academic Team recognition, University of Connecticut Dean's List Honors, and earned a 4.0 in the Fall semester while pursuing his degree in Finance within UConn's School of Business. Athletically, Travis has been a strong performer on the Track and Field team where he has repeatedly broken his personal records and has had multiple top appearances. Travis was the 2023 Indoor Track and Field Big East Champion in the weight throw, as well as the Outdoor Track and Field Big East Champion in the discus in both 2023 and 2024. Travis' performance and overall leadership has been an integral part of UConn Big East Conference excellence, winning seven team championships across his career to date.

Travis is an incredibly thoughtful member of the UConn community and shows genuine care and concern for others. A respected teammate, Travis was named team captain for the 2024-2025 campaign. Being the person in charge is rarely an easy task. As president of SAAC, Travis is expected to manage a team of over 50 of his peers, organizing action items for the larger organization as well as subcommittee management. In collaboration with a team of administrators and student-athletes, Travis has also taken initiative to expand community outreach programming in the Division of Athletics, including multiple events focused on increasing registrations with the National Marrow Donor Program.

Travis' leadership extends beyond the athletics realm. He is currently a manager for the UConn School of Business Student Managed Fund which provides "students with valuable, hands on experience in stock selection and portfolio management," operating under the UConn Foundation, School of Business, Department of Finance, and in conjunction with the SMF Investment Advisory Board (IAB).

Travis is as much a leader by example as he is a vocal one. He is a level-headed, calculated, charismatic student-athlete who brings the best of himself into every scenario. Travis works diligently to reach and exceed his standards of excellence and consistently inspires others to do the same.

The Student-Athlete Success Program is excited to recognize Travis Roux as a 2025 Dr. Donald A. Kinsman Award winner. We are grateful for his leadership and wishing him all the best in his career beyond UConn.

Raquel Rosa- Courage Award

Raquel Rosa is a senior on the Women's Track and Field team. She will be walking this May, earning a bachelor's degree in allied health sciences, and plans to continue her studies in the Master of Public Health program this fall at UConn Health before her application to medical school. Over her four years at UConn, Raquel has been a tremendous contributor to the success of the program—both through her performances on the track and as a supportive, dedicated teammate.

In the later part of her collegiate career, Raquel faced profound personal challenges when her father was diagnosed with cancer. She made the decision to step away from the team and her spring competitive season to care for her dad during his treatment and remained by his side until his passing. This was an incredibly difficult time for Raquel and her family. Throughout it all, she leaned on the support of her family, friends, teammates, professors, and the SASP staff.

Despite these challenges, Raquel consistently put the needs of others before her own. She exemplifies courage, resilience, and determination—continuing to give her best both in and out of the classroom. Outside of her sport, she is involved in orthopedic sports medicine research, where she brings together her experience as an athlete and love for medicine and research. She also volunteers in her free time to provide free screenings for chronic kidney disease and mentors high school girls about careers in medicine. Dedicated to her sport, she returned to full-time training in the fall of 2024, and her first competitive season back included making the UConn "Top 10 of All Time" list for the 300m and a team Big East Championship win.

Through her experience of loss, Raquel further learned to value the present moment and to always appreciate the people around her. She is truly deserving of this award and remains a shining example of strength and perseverance.

Hector Alejandro- Courage Award

This year's Courage Award is proudly presented to Hector Alejandro, a student whose story embodies the very definition of resilience, strength, and unwavering determination. Hector's journey has been marked by unimaginable challenges both physical and emotional that would have brought many to a standstill. Yet, through every obstacle, he has moved forward with grace, grit, and an inspiring commitment to growth.

Several years ago, Hector was the victim of a life-altering accident when he was struck by a car. The injuries he sustained required a long and painful recovery, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. While many would have paused their education or stepped away from their goals, Hector remained focused, determined not to let this traumatic event define his path. He worked tirelessly to regain his strength, and in doing so, discovered a deeper resilience within himself.

Just as he began to regain his footing, Hector was faced with an even greater hardship, the sudden, tragic loss of someone extremely close to him. The grief was profound and unexpected, a moment that shifted his world once again. But even in the face of such sorrow, Hector chose not to retreat. Instead, he leaned into his pain, honoring his loss by continuing to pursue his dreams with even greater purpose.

This May, Hector will graduate with a degree in Communications, a milestone that represents far more than academic achievement. It stands as a testament to the power of the human spirit, to the courage it takes to keep going when everything around you says to stop, and to the belief that even the hardest chapters can lead to moments of triumph.

Hector Alejandro is more than a survivor, he is a symbol of what it means to rise, rebuild, and inspire. We honor him not just for what he has overcome, but for the heart, perseverance, and courage with which he did it.

University of Connecticut Athletics

Related Videos