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TWU to recognize
outstanding students at Honors Convocation
4/16/07
DENTON —
Texas Woman’s University will recognize student artistry
and academic excellence during Honors Convocation ceremonies
Thursday, April 19. Convocation begins at 10 a.m. in the Margo
Jones Performance Hall, located at Oakland and Sawyer streets
on TWU’s Denton campus.
Christie Nelson-Sala
of Richardson will receive the Pauline Bishop Leman Memorial
Award for outstanding artistic achievement. Outstanding Senior
awards, which are based on academic excellence and involvement
in extracurricular activities, will go to Kelley Humphries
of Coupland, Tiffany Larsen of The Woodlands, Russell Mariott
of Houston and Cydni Vandiver of Muleshoe. Samah Elhajibrahim,
a master’s candidate from Haifa, Palestine, and Luis
Columna, a doctoral candidate from Floral Park, San Juan,
Puerto Rico, will receive the Outstanding Graduate Student
awards.
Christie
Nelson-Sala
Ms. Nelson-Sala,
a dance major, has distinguished herself as a student, choreographer
and dancer.
Twice, her work
has been chosen to represent TWU at the American Dance Festival
Association. She has created four choreographic works within
the dance department, and her work is being shown in the Greater
Dallas-Fort Worth area. She recently was commissioned by Booker
T. Washington High School in Dallas to create a dance for
high school students, and also has been commissioned to create
dances for two professional dancers, Nicole Wesley of Atlanta,
Ga., and Jeanne Mam of Dallas.
Ms. Nelson-Sala
is the assistant director of DanceWorks, TWU’s pre-professional
dance company, and is one of the main organizers for the annual
KidsDance program and other K-12 presentations.
Kelley
Humphries
Ms. Humphries,
a biology/pre-med major, will graduate in May with a 3.95
grade point average. She has been accepted into TWU’s
master’s degree program in adapted physical education
for fall 2007. After completing that program, she plans to
attend medical school and specialize in orthopedics and sports
medicine.
While at TWU, Ms.
Humphries conducted undergraduate research in exercise physiology
and adapted physical education. She has received the Redbud
Outstanding Student Leader Award, the Jo Kuhn Leadership Award,
and has been named to the ESPN Academic All-District VI College
Division Women’s Basketball Team and the Arthur Ashe
Jr. Sports Scholars Women’s Basketball first team announced
by Black Issues in Higher Education magazine.
She was selected
to represent TWU Athletics at the 2006 NCAA Division II National
Leadership Academy.
Tiffany
Larsen
Ms. Larsen, a government/legal
studies major, will graduate in May with a 3.99 GPA. She plans
to attend law school at the University of Texas at Austin
in the fall.
Ms. Larsen served
as an intern in the Dallas office of U.S. Congresswoman Eddie
Bernice Johnson in fall 2006 and currently is one of only
eight students from Texas participating in the Speaker’s
Internship Program for the Texas House of Representatives.
She has received TWU’s Redbud Outstanding Campus Leader
Award, Residence Hall Government Leader of the Year Award
and has been named the Society of Distinguished Leaders’
Regional Student of the Year.
She has been involved
in the Athenian Honor Society, Honors Scholar Program, Student
Government Association, Barristers, Student Code of Conduct
Committee and the Residence Hall Association, among others.
Russell
Mariott
Mr. Mariott, a
business management major, graduated in December 2006 with
a 4.0 GPA. He plans to attend Texas Christian University in
the fall to pursue a master of business administration degree.
Mr. Mariott served
as president of the TWU Student Government Association in
2004-05, and was the first male in the history of the university
to hold that office. He also founded the student organization
HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) at TWU, which
consistently ranks as the largest collegiate HOSA chapter
in Texas.
He was involved
in the Honors Scholar Program, Sigma Beta Delta Business Honor
Society, Students in Free Enterprise, the Student Senate,
and also was a member of professional organizations such as
the Denton Chamber of Commerce, the Dallas/Fort Worth Business
Group on Health and the North Texas Society for Human Resource
Management.
Cydni Vandiver
Ms. Vandiver, a
history major, will graduate in May with a 4.0 GPA. She plans
to pursue a master’s degree in history at Southern Methodist
University in the fall, then pursue her doctorate in the field.
She served as president
of the Residence Hall Association and has been involved in
a number of student organizations, including the Athenian
Honor Society, Honors Scholar Program, Omega Rho Alpha English
Honor Society, Golden Key International Honour Society and
the Student Government Association.
She has received
the Redbud Outstanding Student Leader Award, the 4-H Gold
Star Award and the Southwest Association of College and University
Residence Halls Top Ten Program Award. She also has been named
Outstanding Residential Leader and TWU Housing Most Spirited
Leader.
Samah Elhajibrahim
Ms. Elhajibrahim, a master’s candidate in government,
holds a 4.0 GPA. She hopes to pursue her doctorate in political
science and Middle Eastern Studies.
Ms. Elhajibrahim
is a member of Gamma Beta Phi, National Society of Collegiate
Scholars, Who’s Who, the American Political Science
Association, Middle East Studies Association of North America
and the Southwestern Political Science Association. She also
is a member of United for Peace and Justice. She has presented
her research at the TWU Student Creative Arts and Research
Symposium, the American Political Science Association and
the Southwestern Political Science Association.
Luis Columna
Mr. Columna, a doctoral candidate in adapted physical education,
holds a 4.0 GPA.
Four of his works
have been published, and he has made more than 15 professional
presentations locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.
He also has been a guest lecturer at TWU and Caribbean University
in Puerto Rico in more than 15 courses. He is a member of
Who’s Who, Phi Kappa Phi honor society, the National
Consortium for Physical Education and Recreation for Individuals
with Disabilities, the International Federation of Adapted
Physical Activity and the American Alliance for Health, Physical
Education, Recreation and Dance.
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For Further
Information Contact:
Karen Garcia
Senior Copywriter
Tel: (940) 898-3456
e-mail: kgarcia@twu.edu |
