Georgia Southwestern honors top performing scholars

AMERICUS — The following students were recognized by Georgia Southwestern State University during its recent Student Recognition Ceremony:

Delores Capitan Writing Award

Andrew Bellacomo of Albany was recognized as a double winner of the Delores Capitan Writing Awards at GSW’s 2025 Student Recognition Ceremony.

The winners for Academic Writing were Andrew Bellacomo, first place; Camila Fajardo, second place; Rene Miller, third place.

The winners for Creative Writing were Bellacomo, first place; Halle Hockman, second place; Jon Marsh, third place.

These awards were established by William H. Capitan, the university’s eighth president, to honor his late wife’s love of writing and to foster writing across the curriculum.

University Pride Award

Kaleb Hudson of Albany received the Outstanding University Pride Award. This award recognizes GSW students who promote school spirit, advance campus traditions, cheer on Hurricane athletics, encourage others to participate in campus life, and build the GSW community.

Student Employee of the Year

Savanna Lunsford of Leesburg has named the Student Employee of the Year at GSW. This award recognizes student employees who model customer service and professionalism, demonstrate consistency and responsibility, take initiative and are eager to learn new tasks, work well with others and create a team atmosphere, and serve the campus community with excellence.

Sigma Leadership Award

Zoee Jones of Camilla received the Sigma Leadership Award at GSW. This award recognizes nursing students who have exemplified leadership in GSW’s chapter of the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing.

Excellence in History Award

Morgan Dollar of Leesburg has received the Excellence in History Award at GSW. This is the third consecutive year Dollar has received this award. The award is given to a student graduating with a bachelor’s degree in History who shows exceptional academic performance within the history curriculum. Students are nominated and voted on by the History faculty.

Best Talk — Undergraduate Research Symposium 

Alison Stubbs of Mauk, Noah Gibbs of Rochelle, and Kaylee Gotthardt of Leesburg won second place Best Talk in Georgia Southwestern State University’s seventh annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. Their talk was titled “Use of Copula Functions in Investment Portfolios.” Students from a variety of majors and fields shared their research projects with an oral presentation or poster presentation.

“GSW’s Undergraduate Research Symposium is an impressive showcase of our students’ achievements as emerging scholars,” Rachel Abbott, GSW interim provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, said. “Their presentations consistently reflect deep disciplinary knowledge, strong communication skills, and a remarkable level of professionalism. The quality of their work is a testament to their dedication to academic excellence and to the invaluable guidance of our faculty mentors.”

Nearly 70 students participated in the symposium: 22 presented their group research in an oral presentation, 10 displayed their work on posters, and six served as moderators for the oral presentations.

Best Poster — Undergraduate Research Symposium 

Maribel Brizendine of Albany won first place for Best Poster in GSW’s seventh Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. Her poster was titled “Modeling Fatty Liver Disease in a Dish.” Kaylee Hodges of Milton, Fla., Neely Austin of Valley, Ala., Paige Adams of Leesburg and Rebekah Cooper of Leesburg won second place Best Poster in the symposium. Their poster was titled “Sepsis.”

Students from a variety of majors and fields shared their research projects with an oral presentation or poster presentation at the symposium.

Dean’s List

The following local residents made the spring 2025 Dean’s List at Georgia Southwestern State University and were among 885 students recognized for scholastic achievement. To be eligible for the Dean’s List, a student must earn a semester GPA of 3.5 or better and take a minimum of 12 credit hours. Local students honored included:

Edith Acevedo Cordero of Leesburg

Hannah Alumbaugh of Smithville

Graham Anderson of Albany

Kaitlyn Anderson of Albany

Callie Baker of Albany

Nathaniel Baldwin of Leesburg

Jennifer Baltazar of Albany

Loryn Bell of Leesburg

Emily Bellacomo of Albany

Lanie Biery of Albany

Angelina Brazil of Leesburg

Noah Bridges of Leesburg

Jeffrey Bryan of Albany

Sydney Bryan of Albany

Cloe Byrd of Leesburg

Chandler Cannon of Smithville

Haley Carman of Albany

Alexis Carr of Pelham

Isabella Castellanos of Leesburg

Carson Chandler of Leesburg

John Conley of Albany

Shaylan Daniel of Leesburg

Anniya Drakes of Leesburg

Courtney Edwards of Warwick

Justin Edwards of Newton

Jordan Ellis of Leesburg

Zachary Ellis of Leesburg

Zayne Fairbanks of Leesburg

Haley Fields of Leesburg

Catherine Forehand of Pelham

Shelby Fowler of Leesburg

Mckenna Gadt of Leesburg

Layla Gamble of Dawson

Lorene Gardner of Dawson

Kendall Gay of Leesburg

Ansley Goolsby of Dawson

Deadra Grooms of Dawson

Paris Gullige of Sylvester

Morgan Haire of Leesburg

Kendall Hall of Leesburg

Makenzi Harnage of Leesburg

Austin Hatcher of Pelham

Brady Henderson of Leesburg

John Henderson of Albany

Annie Ho of Leesburg

Kayleigh Holland of Albany

Aaron Hudson of Albany

Tyrone Jenkins of Smithville

Caitlin Key of Leesburg

Kinsey Kirt of Leesburg

Hannah Knight of Leesburg

Sarah Land of Leesburg

Justise Lofton of Leesburg

Savanna Lunsford of Leesburg

Cade Maxwell of Leesburg

Trenton Mays of Smithville

Cameron Mills of Smithville

Landon Milton of Sylvester

Chase Moore of Leesburg

Daniel Odom of Smithville

Lindsey Owens of Albany

Sahil Patel of Leesburg

Zackery Payne of Leesburg

Collin Phillips of Sylvester

Haley Polite of Leesburg

Afeni Powers of Dawson

Ariyanni Raymon of Albany

Adriana Rivera of Leesburg

Braden Rubsam of Leesburg

Joshua Sancinito of Albany

Amy Sanderson of Leesburg

Kentravious Shannon of Albany

Abigayle Sheffield of Leesburg

Rilee Shiver of Leesburg

Ryan Smith of Leesburg

Landon Spivey of Leesburg

Caroline Teal of Leesburg

Anna Tetrault of Albany

Carter Thomas of Leesburg

Alayna Thompson of Albany

Ally Tindell of Leesburg

Leslie Wakefield of Leesburg

Payton Warren of Leesburg

Lindsey Whittaker of Albany

Abigail Williams of Albany

Anastasia Williams of Albany

Jessica Wombough of Albany

Trey Young of Albany