Allegheny College Student Karina Mena Named to “110 Students to Watch” List

May 6, 2015 – Allegheny College’s Karina Mena, a junior communication arts major with minors in Latin American/Caribbean studies and theater, has made the list of “110 Students to Watch” in Variety magazine.

Mena, from Portland, Ore., was named to the list, which features upcoming movers and shakers in the entertainment industry. She is a lead technician in Allegheny’s Playshop Theatre and will attend the 2015 United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) Conference in Cincinnati, the leading professional conference for theater technology and production. 

“I feel very honored and surprised to be considered one of Variety’s ‘110 Students to Watch,’” Mena says. “It was really cool to hear that I was a part of this list, though I definitely was not expecting this news.”

“Karina embodies the unique spirit and possibilities of communication arts at Allegheny,” says Julie Wilson, assistant professor of communication arts/theater. “She is a talented artist, both on and off stage, as well as a sharp and passionate critic of our media culture. I have no doubt that Karina will spend her life creating images, sets, characters and stories that will challenge and inspire all of us!”

Mena is heavily involved in Allegheny’s theater program. In addition to working as a lead technician for the Playshop Theatre, she also has been an actor in the shows, the properties master (who is in charge of collecting, purchasing and/or building all pieces that are placed on a stage set) and an assistant stage manager. In addition, she designed and constructed/welded a main set piece for a Student Experimental Theatre performance this year.

Additionally, Mena is a volunteer at the student-run coffeehouse Grounds for Change. She also is a member of the executive board for the service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega, where she serves as the historian who helps manage the fraternity’s social media accounts.

In the future, Mena would like to help create theater in a small company in a community where she can involve people with a variety of backgrounds, cultures and races.

See the full list of Variety “110 Students to Watch” winners.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research