DANBURY, Connecticut — Two multi-faceted students have been named Henry Barnard Distinguished Student Award winners for 2026 by Western Connecticut State University. Hannah Alexander, of Oxford, and Gianna Fanelli, of Danbury, were selected from an extremely competitive field of fellow students for this prestigious Connecticut State Colleges and Universities honor. The award, given to exceptional seniors, recognizes students who have outstanding academic achievement and engagement in service and other activities in the university, regional and global communities.
Alexander and Fanelli are members of the university’s Kathwari Honors Program, which promotes student enrichment built on the fundamental premise that knowledge is an open set of questions and ideas to be explored through highly interactive and interdisciplinary courses, experiential learning, research opportunities, and community engagement. Both students also have taken full advantage of the options available to them at WestConn, and are pursuing dual degrees.
Alexander will graduate in May 2026 with a Bachelor of Music in Performance – Cello, and a Bachelor of Science in Justice and Law Administration – Legal Studies. At the same ceremony, Fanelli will receive a Bachelor of Business Administration in Financial Management, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. Fanelli also is concurrently taking classes to earn a Master of Business Administration in December 2027.
The academic rigor and creativity demonstrated by Alexander and Fanelli’s pursuits are evident in how both have found a way to successfully combine divergent interests into readily identifiable educational and career paths.
Fanelli explained, “The Financial Management and Psychology disciplines challenge me in different, yet complimentary ways. Together, they gave me both structure and perspective. It has clarified the kind of professional I aspire to become — someone who understands the financial frameworks that drive organizations, and the human dynamics that sustain them.”
She said one of the “most defining” academic experiences of her undergraduate career was her Honors thesis, “The Psychology of Financial Stress,” which allowed her to integrate both of her majors by examining how financial stability and instability influence mental health and decision-making. “Through this work,” she said, “I came to understand that economic systems are ultimately human systems, and meaningful change requires both analytical precision and empathy. After graduation, I intend to build a career in Human Resources within a financial corporation, where I can contribute not only to operational success, but to the well-being of the people behind it.”
Alexander’s decision to pursue degrees in both Music Performance and Legal Studies has provided her with different venues in which to share her knowledge and demonstrate her skills. “I performed in my junior recital last May, which was a half-hour solo, and it was amazing,” she said. “I’m very proud of it. This spring, I have my senior recital coming up, and I’m super excited. It will be an hour, and I get to ask some of my peers to join me onstage.” At the same time, Alexander has joined the university’s award-winning Moot Court team, and will be participating in the Schramm Cup this spring. “I was so excited and honored to be hand-picked for the team. It’s the most challenging class I’ve had,” she said. “While I know music is and will always be a huge part of my life, I am ready to explore additional avenues and begin to branch out from my musical cocoon. After graduating, I hope to go to an Ivy League Law School. I’m interested in commercial law and its ties to the music community in areas like intellectual property and copyright law.”
Both students have demonstrated that engaging in what inspires you can yield impressive results.
Fanelli has maintained a 3.97 GPA while pursuing her dual undergraduate majors and graduate degree, but also has found time to be engaged in numerous on- and off-campus endeavors. She is a member of the Finance Club, she has been active with the Psychology Department’s PsychAlliance, and has served as a Peer Academic Leader.
Fanelli undertook a Student Practicum Internship with the university’s Office of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion within the Office of Intercultural Affairs in 2025, and points to this experience as extremely valuable. “I had the opportunity to work with people who had different backgrounds and perspectives,” she explained. “This will be so important in the situations I will experience in a corporate environment in the future.”
Off-campus, Fanelli is a monthly volunteer with LoveForOurElders.org, writing handwritten letters to seniors nationwide to combat loneliness and foster emotional connection. She’s a bookkeeper for Infinity Partners LLC, a local, family-owned real estate company, where she also assists with in-person interactions with tenants. Fanelli also is the recipient of a Connecticut State University Trustees four-year academic scholarship. She is a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success, and the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society. Fanelli was the recipient of the Finance Department Award in 2025.
Alexander has maintained a 3.91 GPA and has been the recipient of the Strong Scholarship, the JUMY Foundation Scholarship, and the WCSU Presidential Scholarship. Alexander is a three-time elected E-board member of the Strings Club, a member of the Brass Club, and a member of the JLA Society. She is a bass trombonist in addition to being a cellist. She also serves as a Precollegiate Access Program, Promoting Academically Successful Students mentor, and has a hand in running music events on campus as a crew member.
She is a two-time winner of the WCSU Music Department’s Soloists’ Competition, and the soloist selected to play the Elgar Cello Concerto with the WCSU Orchestra in this year’s spring concert. Her chamber group won the WCSU Furman Music Competition in 2025. In 2024, she participated in a community event called Violins of Hope, a project of concerts based on a private collection of violins, violas and cellos, all collected since the end of World War 2. During the event, Alexander performed on a recovered cello.
Alexander plans to continue teaching private cello lessons at Southbury Music School, where her own early lessons took place, and at the Danbury Community Conservatory, where she teaches underprivileged students. She also performs with the Danbury Symphony and at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Oxford, and takes gig calls at other area churches. Alexander gained field experience in an internship with the Probation Office last summer, and hopes to turn that field work into a paralegal or Clerk’s Office internship to prepare for her future legal career.
Alexander plans to take the LSAT exam this summer, and to apply to entertainment law programs in fall 2027. She acknowledged the mentorship and opportunities provided to her by professors in WestConn’s Music and Justice and Law Administration departments. “I am hopeful that one day I will work as a legal advocate for musicians’ rights and compensation,” she said. “My goal as both a musician and budding member of society is to infuse the same passion I have for music into everything that I do, and more importantly, share it with others around me.”
Fanelli said, “I am driven to support and uplift those around me as I understand how powerful it is to feel seen, supported, and capable. Education has given me structure and confidence, but it has also given me perspective — the awareness that my accomplishments rest upon a foundation built by others’ sacrifice. I am filled with gratitude, especially for my father who believed in me and my education even when life required him to carry more than most. To get the Barnard Award is not just recognition for the work I’ve put in, but his too.”
Western Connecticut State University changes lives by providing all students with a high-quality education that fosters their growth as individuals, scholars, professionals, and leaders in a global society. Our vision: To be widely recognized as a premier public university with outstanding teachers and scholars who prepare students to contribute to the world in a meaningful way.