Left: Meghan Eun-Seon Murray, Right: Emily Marie Guyton Lange

John W. Barney Memorial Award

This award recognizes the graduating senior(s) with the highest cumulative GPA. Colleagues, former students, and friends of the late John W. Barney established this award in his honor. Mr. Barney graduated from Elon in 1910 and was a member of the faculty for more than three decades.

Presented by Aswani Volety, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Biology

Transcript of Commendations

Aswani Volety, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Biology

One of the rewarding parts of being Provost at Elon is that each spring I have the privilege of presenting the John W. Barney Memorial Award to the graduating senior or seniors with the highest cumulative GPA.  This year’s recipients have earned a perfect 4.0.

From Bel Air, Maryland, our first recipient has achieved extraordinary success across her scholarly endeavors. She is an Elon Honors Fellow, double majoring in International Business and Finance.

She is a member of Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society and Beta Gamma Sigma International Honor Society.

Aside from her involvement on campus, she is also an asset to the Elon community. She works as a tutor for Economics courses, serves as assistant director of dancer relations for Elonthon, and serves as a peer mentor for the Honors Fellow Program. In addition, she is the president of The Network, Elon’s Accounting and Finance Club, and is the vice president of membership for Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Fraternity.

Following graduation, she plans to work with Ernst & Young in Charlotte, North Carolina, as a Financial Services Business Consultant.

Our second recipient is also an Elon Honors Fellow and a Lumen Scholar with double majors in English Literature and Philosophy. As a student, she has taken full advantage of undergraduate research opportunities, with three articles derived from her thesis published in peer-reviewed journals. She is currently working on a chapter proposal accepted for publication in a volume of essays about kinship in the work of N.K. Jemisin.

She has served as a Teaching Assistant in three different Elon courses, a student researcher in Elon’s Archives, and has served on the English department’s Pandemic Engaged Teaching and Learning Committee.

From Wilson, North Carolina, she enjoys cooking, playing games with other members of Elon’s Tabletop Gaming Club, reading, martial arts, and advocating for social justice.

After graduation, she will be attending Miami University in Oxford, Ohio to complete an M.A. in Philosophy on a fully-funded teaching assistantship.

I have no doubt that the education these two individuals receive from Elon will serve them well as they embark upon the next phase of their life, and that they will be wonderful ambassadors for the value of an Elon education.

Please join me in congratulating Meghan Murray and Emily Lange as recipients of the 2021 John W. Barney Memorial Award.

Meghan and Emily, you may visit the Center for Leadership to receive your plaque and monetary award.