Albany State University holds 2017 Honors Day Convocation

ALBANY — More than 470 students crowded the floor of the university’s HPER Gymnasium and were recognized as high academic achievers as Albany State University’s East Campus held its annual Honors Day Convocation Thursday morning.

Honors Day Committee Chairman Melvin Shelton said the university honored 18 students with 4.0 grade-point averages who were the highest-ranking students in their respective majors.

Biology majors Chiagoziem Agu, Maleeha Jabeen, Mohammed Musaib and Chance’ Stodgill were recognized; as were Harley Brown, Jordan Davis, Kylie Greene, Holly Kimbrell, Heather Kimmons and Christa Wesson in Early Childhood Education; Bryana Blake, English; Quadre Curry, Art’ Hailey Evans, Forensic Science; Robert Feagans, Mathematics; Erick Garcia, Supply Chain & Logistics Management; Sharmaine Mathis, Psychology; and Ashley Shepard and Brianna Thornton, Pre-Nursing.

Shelton said the university recognized 43 freshman with 3.5 GPAs or higher, 130 Dean’s List students and 275 majors who earned 3.5 GPAs.

The university did not have a keynote speaker, instead calling on three high-achieving Albany State students — Hailey Evans, Alexius Lampkin and Evan Ridley — to share their thoughts on higher education.

“I urge each one of you to take advantage of our tutors and one-on-one instruction,” Evans, a sophomore Forensic Science major, said. “In order for you and me to achieve academic success, we must have excellent educations.”

Lampkin, a Junior Forensic Science major from Alabama, agreed.

“I came here from a small town in Alabama, and I feel comfortable here,” Lampkin said. “I would tell my fellow students, the best way to learn is to sit in the front row (of class), introduce yourself to your teachers and talk loud and firm. I am grateful for every path I have crossed as I matriculated here.”

University officials said that the university’s West Campus would hold its honors day next month.

“Honors Day is a time-honored tradition, and today is a testament to your hard work,” ASU President Art Dunning wrote in a foreword to the event’s program. “You represent the best and brightest of this great university. You prove that there are no heights that cannot be attained with determination and the desire to put forth effort.”