Gary and LeShelle May will incorporate all six design submissions into their home
Instead of choosing one winner, UC Davis Chancellor Gary May and his wife, LeShelle May, have decided to combine six of the submissions for the Chancellor’s Residence Interior Design Contest. The six winners, consisting of students, alumni and staff, were each awarded the first-place prize of a $500 Amazon gift card.
Due to the fact that Chancellor Emerita Linda Katehi moved her own furniture into the Chancellor’s Residence, the university distributed the old furnishings throughout campus buildings. Katehi’s departure in 2016 gave the Mays an opportunity to refurnish the house by using ideas from students and alumni.
The six design contest winners consisted of three alumni — Susan Garrison, who designed a living room, Lien Sanchez, who also designed a living room and Rose Cabral, who designed a study — as well as three students. The three students are Deanna Chung, a graduate student at the school of Veterinary Medicine who designed a living room, 2017 graduate Alyssa Fumagalli, who also designed a living room and third-year psychology major Francesca Francisco, who designed a study.
The Mays decided to incorporate all six plans into their redesign.
Additionally, Chung won a separate People’s Choice Award for her living room design. For this honor, she earned a $150 Amazon gift card and Aggie souvenirs on top of her $500 prize. Chung spoke about how this opportunity helped aid her adjustment to campus as a new student.
“I found the competition through the UC Davis Memes for Egghead Teans Facebook group,” Chung said via email. “I was taking an online class and learning how to use Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. I wanted to put my skills into use for a real life project, and this seemed like the perfect chance! I […] am new to this campus, so learning about all the different facets of Davis life while preparing for my submission helped expedite the learning curve.”
The Mays hosted a celebratory dinner for the winners on Aug. 9. Expressing gratitude, LeShelle May explained the couple’s decision to amalgamate the six ideas as opposed to choosing only one first place winner.
“Each submission was carefully presented and we loved something from each of the design presentations,” LeShelle told UC Davis News. “The final results of how we incorporate aspects of each will be truly representative of the Davis community.”
The chancellor emphasized the importance of UC Davis students and alumni working with the UC Davis administration.
“We’re thrilled that we had students and alumni eager to participate in the contest,” Chancellor May said to UC Davis News. “We believe the Residence belongs to the UC Davis community, and it was important to us that the community could help shape the space.”
Written by: Aaron Liss –– campus@theaggie.org
