More that 100 students were honored April 30 in Alumni Gym during the 18th annual Phillips-Perry Black Excellence Awards Banquet. Frank Haith ’88, head men’s basketball coach at the University of Missouri, was keynote speaker for the event.
The mission of the Black Excellence Awards Banquet is to recognize, celebrate and affirm the presence of black students at Elon University.
Haith spoke about family values and his personal story, and was passionate in telling students to never stop striving to be better.
“Expect to be great,” Haith said. “You have achieved a certain amount of success. And trust me, as you move forward you’re going to have more challenges, more obstacles that come in front of you. How you handle those challenges, how you handle those obstacles, will determine how successful you’re going to be.”
Haith recently took the head coaching job at Missouri after serving for seven years as head men’s basketball coach at the University of Miami. His teams had back-to-back postseason appearances in 2005 and 2006, an NCAA Tournament berth in 2008, 11 wins over nationally-ranked opponents, the school’s first National Invitation Tournament win since 1963, the first NIT road win in school history, and Haith guided UM past the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in 2008 for the first time since 2000. In addition to the on-the-court success, Haith’s players earned academic success; during his tenure, 20 of 21 players who exhausted athletics eligibility earned degrees from University of Miami.
Elon President Leo M. Lambert congratulated students for their academic achievements, and provided the opening remarks for the awards banquet.
“My deepest hope for each of you is that you will leave this university in due course, as an ambassador for human understanding and for peace, and that you will be bearers of light, Numen and Lumen, into the many places in the world still darkened by ignorance,” said Lambert said. “I want people to point to you after you graduate and say, ‘That is one fine human being. I bet he or she went to Elon.’”
The Phillips-Perry Black Excellence Awards is named in honor of Glenda Phillips, the first black student to attend Elon in 1963, and Eugene Perry, the first black student to graduate from Elon in 1969.
Academic Achievement Recipients
More than 100 students received awards for a 2010 fall semester GPA of 3.2 or higher, or a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher. They are:
*Tierra Alston-Johnson, ’13, Roanoke Rapids, NC
*Rachaele Andrews, ’14, Fort Worth, TX
*Rodney Austin, ’11, Charlotte, NC
**Daniel Baquet, Jr. ’11, Libertytown, FL
**Jermile Batten, ’12, Midlothian, VA
*Yvette Bean, ’14, Columbus, OH
*Janelle Bennett, ’14, Gibsonville, NC
*Raven Bennett, ’14, Raleigh, NC
*Ja’ Mei Bess, ’14, Raleigh, NC
**Melissa Bing, ’13, Arlington, TX
**Erin Blackwell, ’11, Owings Mills, MD
*Amanda Bodenarain, ’11, Charlotte, NC
*Joshua Bonney, ’11, Houston, TX
*Steven Carney, ’12, Essex, VT
*Brittany Carroll, ’11, Washington, DC
*James Carter III, ’14, Eden, NC
**Jennifer Celin, ’11, Washington, DC
*Megan Chapman, ’14, Portland, OR
**Brian Chinn, ’12, Silver Spring, MD
**Kellye Coleman, ’12, Woodberry Forest, VA
**Karolyn Cook, ’11, Westfield, NJ
*Kendall Crouther, ’14, Herdon, VA
*Jada Dalley, ’14, San Antonio, TX
*Nicki Daniels, ’12, Beaufort, NC
*Brenton Davis, ’11, Miami, FL
**Matthew Dinwiddie, ’11, Muncie, IN
*Whitley Dozier, ’13, Plainville, CT
*Nia Duke, ’14, Bowie, MD
**Egheosa Edomwony, ’13, Newark, NJ
*Crystal Edwards, ’14, Charlotte, NC
**Ryan Elliot, ’11, Baltimore, MD
*Adrienne Ferrell, ’11, Gaithersburg, MD
**Ayaan Forstall, ’11, Tucker, GA
*Kaya Forstall, ’11, Tucker, GA
*Janae Frazier, ’13, Bloomfield, CT
**Evan Glover, ’12, Bowie, MD
*Ryan Goss, ’14, Augusta, GA
**Jasmine Gregory, ’12, Charlottesville, VA
*Jeremy Guinn, ’14, Columbus, OH
**Chelsea Gund, ’12. Washington, DC
*Brea Hamilton, ’12, Upper Marlboro, MD
*Adrianne Haney, ’14, Atlanta, GA
*Kelsey Harris, ’14, Gastonia, NC
*Kyle Herbert, ’12, Hillsborough, NC
*Kuylain Howard, ’14, Kannapolis, NC
**Brenna Humphries, ’13, Marietta, GA
**Tavia Hunt, ’11, Palo Alta, CA
**Jasmine Jackson, ’12, Charlotte, NC
**Ashley Jobe, ’12, Lexington, NC
*Alicia Johnson, ’13, Baltimore, MD
**Tyrice Johnson, ’13, Brooklyn, NY
*Derrick Joshua, ’14, Tucker, GA
**Devin Kennedy, ’13, Jakarta, Indonesia
**Amanda Locke, ’13, Oak Hill, VA
**Nicole Lockhart, ’11. Suffolk, VA
*Carlton Logan, ’13, Louisa, VA
**Raven Manigault, ’13, Lexington Park, MD
**Alex Mask, ’12, Chapel Hill, NC
**Michael Maybin, ’13. Washington, MD
**Ashley McGraw, ’11, Atlanta, GA
**Shelby McKay, ’13, Baltimore, MD
**Andrea McLean, ’13, Freeport, NY
*Janelle McNeil, ’13, South Attleboro, MA
*Kassandra Mendes, ’14, Brockton, MA
*Nana Mensah, ’14, Kumasi, Ghana
*Maggie Mial, ’12, Holly Springs, NC
**Nicholas Millington, ’12, Raleigh, NC
**Aisha Mitchell, ’12, Washington, DC
**Jackson Moore, ’11, Newark, DC
*Crystal Moyer, ’11, Lompoc, CA
**Amber Murphy, ’11, Edgewood, MD
*Chinonyerem Obichere, ’13, Charlotte, NC
*Jordan Only, ’14, Austin, TX
**Keyona Osborne, ’12, Morristown, NJ
**Benjamin Poole, ’13, Marietta, GA
**Jasmine Powe, ’12, Baltimore, MD
*Cedric Pulliam, ’12, Woodbridge, VA
**Dionne Richardson, ’13, Columbia, MD
**Ashley Robinson, ’11, Randallstown, MD
**Jordan Robinson, ’13, Knightsdale, NC
*Jessica Scales, ’11, Martinsville, VA
*Sarah Schmer, ’14, Cooperstown, NY
**Danica Shipley, ’11, Alpharetta, GA
**Samuel Shoge, ’11, Chestertown, MD
*Jamal Shuman, ’12, Fayetteville, NC
*Candace Silas, ’14, Richmond, VA
*Shakinah Simeona, ’12, Roosevelt, NY
*Samantha Simunyu, ’13, Wake Forest, NC
*Andrew Somers, ’12, Boca Raton, FL
*Jerry Staples, ’11, Greensboro, NC
**Andrew Stevenson, ’13, Whitsett, NC
**Alexa Sykes, ’13, Shaker Heights, OH
*Blake Thompson, ’13, Columbia, MD
*Jordan Thomas, ’14, North Olmsted, OH
*Tiana Tucker, ’11, Washington, DC
*David Turner, ’14, Matthews, NC
*Jessica Turner, ’11, Fayettville, NC
*Brittany Walker, ’12, Greensboro, NC
**Khirey Walker, ’11, Virginia Beach, VA
*Courtney Weathers, ’11, Marietta, GA
*Lauren Wilkins, ’14, Phillipsburg, NJ
*Barbara Williams, ’14, Knightsdale, NC
**David Williams, ’13, Chester, VA
*Kristen Williams, ’11, Fort Washington, MD
*Zaccai Williams, ’12, Pikesville, MD
*Asha Wilson, ’13, Centerville, VA
**Trevor Wynn, ’12, Charlotte, NC
* Fall Semester or Cumulative Grade Point Average 3.2 – 4.0
** Fall Semester and Cumulative Grade Point Average 3.2 – 4.0
Special awards for the highest GPA in each category:
Jordan Thomas: Freshman Male
Crystal Edwards: Freshman Female
Devin Kennedy: Sophomore Male
Alexa Sykes: Sophomore Female
Nicholas Millington: Junior Male
Keyona Osborne: Junior Female
Trevor Wynn: Senior Male
Alex Mask: Senior Female
SORORITY GIFT – In 2007, the Omicron Epsilon Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated established the “Collecting Change to Make a Change” textbook award to benefit a female student at Elon University. The award of $200 is to be used in the fall semester.
· Crystal Edwards
ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIP – The Black Cultural Society Academic Scholarship is based on an individual’s student achievement and notable contribution to the Elon community. This award is designed to encourage students to take advantage of the Elon Experience.
· Tyrice Johnson & Crystal Edwards
Athletic awards for the highest GPA by a student athlete:
David Williams: Football
Jermile Batten: Womens Basketball
