Black excellence highlighted at 31st annual Phillips-Perry Awards

Outstanding students, faculty and staff were recognized on Saturday, April 20, at the 31st annual Phillips-Perry Black Excellence Awards, which are presented by the Center for Race, Ethnicity, & Diversity Education.

The ceremony included an invocation by Kenneth Brown, assistant director of first-generation student support services, and opening remarks from President Connie Ledoux Book, who was introduced by Demetria Hall ’24, vice president of the Black Student Union.

Among those presenting awards on during Saturday’s ceremony were Maleah Proctor ’25, Simone Royal ’17 with the CREDE, Kelia Evans ’11 with the Elon Black Alumni Network, Ruby Thornton Bracy ’99 with the Elon Black Alumni Network, La’Tonya Wiley ’97 with Alumni Engagement, Vice President Randy Williams with the Division of Inclusive Excellence, Provost and Vice President Rebecca Kohn, Assistant Professor Keshia Wall and Alex Bohannon ’17 with the Elon Black Alumni Network.

The ceremony included a performance by Kameron Askew ’25 and a charge to students from Naomi Washington ’24.

​Established in 1993, the mission of the Black Excellence Awards Banquet is to recognize, celebrate and affirm the presence of Black students at Elon University. Approved by the Elon University Board of Trustees, the annual Black Excellence Awards Banquet was named on April 22, 2006, to honor former Elon students Glenda Phillips Hightower, who in 1963 became the first Black student to attend Elon, and Eugene Perry ’69, the first Black student to graduate from Elon.

Academic Excellence Awards

Students eligible for the Special Academic Award must be enrolled at Elon University for at least one semester. These students have the highest cumulative grade point average in their particular class.

First-Year Class

• Muhammad Awal Tahiru
• Claudia Haspel

Sophomore class

• Savion Taylor
• Dylan Torbay

Junior class

• Maleah Proctor

Senior class

• Donelle Leak

Doctor of Physical Therapy

• Mai’a McCray (1st year)
• Raya Coley (2nd year)
• Alicia Wilson (3rd year)

Physician Assistant Studies

• Oshane Bent ’24
• Samir Halalou ’25

Master’s in Higher Education

• Emma Calhoun (1st year)
• Marie-Clare Ofoegbu (2nd year)

School of Law

• Karrington Wallace (1L)
• Melo Augustine (2L)

Interactive Media

• Kaitlin McGoogan

Master’s in Business Administration:

• Aaron Mellette

Master’s in Business Analytics

• Trinity Swepson

Elon Experiences Award

The Elon Experiences Awards celebrate Black students who have participated in Experiential Learning Requirements. As part of an Elon education students engage in any of five key opportunities that integrate their knowledge and coursework with practical experiences to foster a lifelong appreciation for learning.

Internship

• Kara McKinley

Global Engagement

• Kara McKinley

Undergraduate Research

• Jasper Serenity-Myers

Service-Learning

• Kayla Brunson

Leadership

• Jayla Martin-Beasley
• Caleb Martin

Graduate Leadership Award

The graduate leadership award recognizes a student who possesses exceptional leadership qualities and has demonstrated the ability to lead, influence and guide others.

• Marie-Clare Ofoegbo

Janice Ratliff Community Service Award

The Janice Ratliff Community Service Award is named in honor of Janice Ratliff, a former advisor of the Black Student Union, a long-time employee of Elon University, and well-known advocate and community figure for the university’s Black students, faculty, and staff. This award goes to a staff member that the Black student body recognizes as an advocate for the Black student experience, whose contributions to the community, whether big or small, always substantially impact the Black community on multiple levels.

• Quintin Tucker, associate director of student involvement

Wilhelmina Boyd Community Service Award

The Wilhelmina Boyd Community Service Award is named in honor of the late Wilhelmina Boyd was an associate professor of English and the founder of Elon University’s minor in African and African American Studies. This award goes to a faculty member that the Black student body recognizes as an advocate for the Black student experience and a champion of equity, diversity, and inclusion throughout the curriculum.

• Vanessa Drew-Branch, associate professor of human service studies and interim associate director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning

Academic Awards

The academic award is given to full-time undergraduate students with at least 12 semester hours of academic coursework who have earned a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or higher. The three categories for the academic award are Maroon Club (3.2-3.49), Gold Club (3.5-3.79), and Phoenix Club (3.8-4.0).

Phoenix Club (Academic GPA 3.8-4.0)

Christian Atwater
Noah Biggers
Kayla Boyette
Mae Ceesay
Joshua Cole
Alyvia Cooke
Symone Dill-White
Evelyn Ealey
Claudia Haspel
Anne Sophie Hill
Veronica Kowalewski
Kaelise Lane
Donelle Leak
Mya Lee
Niara Legette
Delyla Makki
Jade May
Kara McKinley
Sean Mikesh
Gabrielle Miller
Jada Moody
Jasper Myers
Mya Osborne
Mackenzie Perry
Raven Preston
Makenzie Pridgen
Maleah Proctor
Nicholas Rugbart
Logan Scott
Amaya Sheffield
Leah Short
Maya Simmons
Tk Simpkins
Amani Smalls
Meziah Smith
Christina Stafford
Adrianna Stapleton
Emily Stuart
Muhammad Awal Tahiru
Savion Taylor
Myka Thomas
Jeremiah Timberlake
Dylan Torbay
Naomi Washington
Justice Wilbourn
Madisen Williams
Mikayla Williams
Cedar Zobel-Williams

Gold Club (Academic GPA 3.5-3.79)

Anaya Agard
Kaliah Alford
Madalein Amoako
Keri Anderson
Selena Babiiha
Fatmata Bah
Allena Boddie-Chapman
Jasmyn Brown
Kaia Brown
Jasmine Brumsey
Kendall Campbell
Malcolm Capers
Lauryn Carlton
Alexis Cooper
Demya Culp
Ashlee Dais
Carys Davenport
Murphy Davis
Bereket Demissew
Zeth Dixon
Nick Dorn
Kamryn Doty
Nailah Doumbouya
Camille Duplechain
James Eaton
Monique Fogg
Madeline Foster
Chloe Franklin
<!doctype>Alexa Fraser
Leah Funchess
Gabriel Garcia
Ryan Grandison
QuiRah Hamilton
Camryn Harris
Camryn Houston
Harrison Hunter
Ja’mia Johnson
Kyla Johnson
Kalia Lilly
Jayla Martin-Beasley
Kamari McBride
Madison McCrainey
Nina McDow
Dearra Mills
Kavalon Mills
Asia Minor
Fancy Mitchell
Victoria Moore
Khairi Morrow
Zoe Myers
Erin Poole
Jesse Powell
L.A. Pratt
Krissy Randolph
Nyjah Rollins
Nicole Rudd
Sebastian Schroeter
Aniya Scott
Bryant Short
Dre Smart
Janeeta Smith
Jasmine Smith
Trinity Swepson
Gabe Tobierre
Genesis Tolbert
Ravyn Turner
Fabienne van Rijssen
Samantha Vaz
Marques Walker
Nivea Walker
Regina Walton
Nailah Ware
Francess Wilkinson
Austin Williams
Kelsy Williams
Jordin Wilson
Alyssa Wise

Maroon Club (Academic GPA 3.2-3.49)

Iycez Adams
Chase Albritton
Kameron Askew
Sage Battisto
Gabriela Bobo
Bri Brabham
Amelia Broderick
Shon Brown
Kayla Brunson
Julian Bumper
Haleigh Cephus
Daniel Christian
Adriana Clarke
Zakk Connelly
Mae Curington
Josh Davis
Hannah Dereje
Nai’a Diggs
Kendall Dowdie
Taylor Duque
Danielle Dyer
Ryan Elad
Izaiah Ezeji-Miles
Wilnedia Florveus
Jahmir Flowers
Ameirr Garner
Olivia Garnett
Nick Germain
Hannah Gneco
Tiffanie Grant
Asia Green
Bethany Griffin
Ashanti Horton
Jamiliyah Ismaiel
Uwera Izabayo
Ajia James
Alexandra James
Kaden Jennings
Will Lankford
Christian Lindsay
Gabe Logan
Jasmine Maniram
Cannon Marshall
Caleb Martin
Marcus McFarlane
Reilly Melody
Nicholas Mesrobian
Blake Mobley
Mason Mosley
Darian Myers
Cody Ngwanza
Zach Parker
Maraja Pass
Elijah Pegues
Katelyn Perez
Zoe Pighet
Nahom Redda
Danniya Robertson
Natalie Rodriguez
Mj Schaeffer
Sivaun Scott
Taylor Scott
Myah Shepherd
Denise Simmons
Michaela Singletary
Sarina Smith
Ariel Solomon
Samantha Steiner
Savion Taylor
Rocque Tremaglio
Amelia White
Terrell White
Corinne Williams
Madison Williams
Morgan Williams
Trinity Wilson
Drew Young

—

The Phillips-Perry Black Excellence Awards Celebration is presented by Elon’s Center for Race, Ethnicity & Diversity Education (CREDE). The planning committee includes:

• Allison Allred, program assistant in the Center for Race, Ethnicity & Diversity Education
• Michelle Dawson, director of events in the Office of the President
• Robert Johnson, director of event and space management
• Laké Laosebikan-Buggs, director of inclusive excellence, graduate and professional education
• Buffie Longmire-Avital, director of the Black Lumen Project and professor of psychology
• Simone Royal, interim associate director, Center for Race, Ethnicity and Diversity Education
• Anita Hodnett, director of counseling services
• La’Tonya Wiley, assistant director of alumni engagement
• Michael Williams, director of Moseley Center

The Elon Experience Selection Committee includes:

• Brook Buffington, assistant vice president for the Student Professional Development Center
• Bob Frigo, the associate dean of campus life and director of the Kernodle Center for Civic Life
• Eric Hall, director of undergraduate research and professor of exercise science
• Allegra Laing, executive director of global programming
• Tierza Watts, director of the Center for Leadership