Tri Delta’s Sarah Ida Shaw Award is the organization’s highest individual collegiate award, given annually to one collegiate member. Named to celebrate and remember our beloved Founder, the award recognizes an exceptionally brave, bold and kind woman who remains dedicated to Tri Delta’s Purpose and ideals and has shown significant unselfish leadership within her chapter, campus and community.
This year’s winner, Maya Gentry, Southern California, undoubtedly reflects our values of truth, self-sacrifice and friendship. Whether managing crises, fostering a sense of belonging, or supporting sisters across chapters, Maya consistently puts others before herself.
Less than a week after her installation as collegiate chapter president at the University of Southern California (USC), Maya’s leadership was tested in a way she never anticipated. The chapter leaders found themselves in a stressful, high-stakes scenario, and faced with fear and uncertainty, Maya chose courage rooted in compassion. She immediately partnered with university officials and Tri Delta’s Executive Office to ensure the well-being of every member of her chapter, ensuring transparent communication and coordinated support.
Following the incident, Maya advocated for the individual’s mental well-being, choosing to focus on support rather than consequences in the aftermath. Through this experience, she was inspired to make mental health awareness a greater focus of chapter life, strengthen security measures and earned the kind of trust that encouraged sisters to call her in emergencies or lean on her in their hardest moments. Time and again, in moments of crisis, Maya responded calmly, decisively and always with care.
“I’ve learned that sisterhood isn’t a single experience or a single place. It’s something that reveals itself in small moments—and it lingers far beyond them.”
Maya’s leadership is also shaped by resilience. After beginning college at the University of Wisconsin and struggling to find a sense of belonging, she decided to transfer to USC—choosing the discomfort of starting over in pursuit of community. That experience deepened her commitment to creating spaces where others feel seen and supported.
During the Los Angeles wildfires, Maya and the chapter leadership shifted recruitment priorities to focus first on safety and compassion, securing air purifiers, advocating for hybrid options and guiding her chapter through uncertainty.
Under Maya’s leadership, the chapter filled its facility for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic—not simply because of strategy, but because women wanted to be part of the culture she helped cultivate. She extended that same spirit beyond her campus, assisting Chapman University with their recruitment, and was invited to represent Tri Delta in extension efforts.
At the 2026 Collegiate Leadership Conference, Maya’s speech accepting the Sarah Ida Shaw Award reflected on finding belonging, choosing courage and the lasting impact of sisterhood. She shared her journey from feeling out of place during her first year of college to finding a true sense of home through Tri Delta—not once, but twice. From the friendships that encouraged her to make a difficult transfer decision to being welcomed with open arms at a new chapter thousands of miles away, Maya’s story is a powerful reminder that sisterhood isn’t tied to a single place or moment. It lives in the people who show up, support one another and choose each other again and again.
Through her reflections on leadership, gratitude and putting others first, Maya reminded us that the heart of Tri Delta is found in everyday acts of kindness, courage and connection.
“Loving my sisters, showing up for them and putting our shared Purpose first is simply what Tri Delta has always meant to me. To be recognized for that, and to join the ranks of the incredible women who have come before me, is a true honor.”
Time and again, Maya places others before herself, building belonging wherever she lands—a true embodiment of what Sarah Ida Shaw stood for. Congratulations, Maya!
First Runner-Up: Faith Murray, Vermont
Second Runner-Up: Kaitlyn King, Florida
High Honors: Emma Whitley, Michigan; Gabriella Ezzell, Rose-Hulman; Kendall Solkovy, Ohio State; Lauren Dunn, Texas/Dallas; Leland Barnett, Alabama
Honorable Mentions: Elizabeth Sims, Miami/Ohio; Bella Aldridge, Boise State; Joy Carstanjen, Kenyon; Kylie Miller, Kansas; Lauren Layne, William & Mary; Sarah Green, Colgate