Honors College Student is Part of Albany's Tulip Court

Members of the Albany Tulip Court, in matching white and blue dresses, hold flowers as they stand with Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan.

Members of the Albany Tulip Court, including Tulip Queen Sam Mills, center with crown, and UAlbany freshman Sakthi Muthukrishnan, to her left, with Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan.

ALBANY, N.Y. (May 10, 2022) — First-year student Sakthi Muthukrishnan spent last week with tulips on her mind after being named a finalist for Albany’s Tulip Queen. And while Sam Mills was coronated as Tulip Queen Saturday at the Albany Tulip Fest, Muthukrishnan will remain a part of the tulip team focusing on service to the community.

“It feels great to be the youngest tulip of the 2022 Tulip Court,” Muthukrishnan, 18, said. “All five of us will be working together on community service and literacy initiatives for the entire year.”

Muthukrishnan, who was nominated to the court by her Honors College Advisor, Kathryn Fore, said it was an honor to interact with Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan, President Rodríguez and local leaders during the week. “UAlbany is the jewel of Albany city, and I am proud to be student of UAlbany,” she said.

President Rodríguez, in a tux and purple bow ties, poses with Sakthi Muthukrishnan , wearing a Albany Tulip Court sash — Sakthi Muthukrishnan, a member of the Albany Tulip Court, poses with President Rodríguez. (Photos by Muthukrishnan Narasimhan)

Fore said Muthukrishana is a strong student who is civic-minded and committed to her communities, in and out of UAlbany. “She works hard in Honors College to introduce her classmates to new ideas and traditions, and also learns as much as she can about others in return,” Fore said. “She is brilliant, kind and insightful, and I nominated her because I thought she was one of the best examples of who we are and what we value here at UAlbany, and would represent us well as a leader in the broader Albany community.”

Muthukrishnan started her education in Bangalore, India, moving to Saratoga Springs as an eighth grader and graduating (Photos by from Saratoga Springs High School. At UAlbany she is a biochemistry and molecular biology major, with a minor in Computer Science, and she hopes to become a doctor.

“I have a passion for STEM and am inclined to provide my services to the community,” she said. She has been a volunteer at Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital, Saratoga Children's Museum, Saratoga Art Center and Saratoga Senior Center.

The Tulip Festival began in 1949 and celebrates Albany’s connection to the Netherlands and its sister city, Nijmegen. During and after World War II, Albany collected and shipped donations of food, clothing and tools to Nijmegen, and city officials sent their thanks in the form of thousands of tulip bulbs. The Tulip Festival is held every May when the tulips are in full bloom. Festivities include music, food, games, celebrating a “Mother of the Year,” and the coronation of a tulip queen. The queen and court serve for a year as ambassadors of the city, working on community service projects.