Arkansas State University-Beebe hosted its annual Vanguard Awards banquet on Tuesday, April 25, honoring outstanding students, faculty and staff.
Each year, student awards are presented for leadership and outstanding achievement, with the most prestigious of these being the annual Citizenship Award. In addition to students, one faculty and one staff member were also recognized with distinguished awards for contribution to service to the student experience.
The Citizenship Award has been presented annually to exceptional students since 1959. This year’s award was presented to Madison Ledwaba of Little Rock, an education major, and Zayd Kelley of Cabot, a political science major.
Ledwaba is an active member of the Future Educators Club, Educators Rising, the Black Excellence Association, the TRIO Leadership Council, and the Student Government Association. She served the residential community as a resident assistant and president of the Residence Hall Association. She was recently elected unanimously by the student body to serve as the chair of the Student Activities Council. Once Ledwaba completes her education degree, she plans to transfer to Arkansas State University’s degree center on the Beebe campus to complete a bachelor’s degree in mid-level education.
A fully online student completing an Associate of Science in Liberal Arts and Sciences, Kelley has taken full advantage of campus life, serving as president of the Student Government Association. As a student leadership scholar, Kelley was instrumental in re-engaging students in campus life post-pandemic. His leadership in student government included expanding the campus food pantry, student-led diversity and inclusion programming, outreach to other college student leaders, and growing student government membership from six students in spring 2022 to 74 students today. Kelley has plans to transfer to the University of Central Arkansas to complete a degree in political science studies.
The Outstanding Nontraditional Student Award was presented to Candice Rose of Beebe, a health science major, and Kathy Featherston of Beebe, a general studies major.
The Outstanding Academic Student Award for the career education division was presented to Emmie Driskill of Beebe, a business major, and Kailer Lamb of Lonoke, a computer systems and network technology major.
The Outstanding First-Year Student Award was presented to Asia Simmons of Jacksonville, a criminal justice major, and Jacob Cater of Quitman, a liberal arts and sciences major.
The Outstanding Academic Student Award for the arts and humanities division was presented to Sierra Miller of Cabot, a psychology major, and Benjamin Byrd of Heber Springs, a theatre major.
The Outstanding Academic Student Award for the math and science division was presented to Charles Turrietta of Cabot, a health sciences major, and Nathan Surles of Heber Springs, an engineering major.
The Outstanding Heber Springs Campus Student Award was presented to Shontaye Rushton of Heber Springs, a psychology major, and Nathan Surles of Heber Springs, an engineering major.
The Outstanding Searcy Campus Student Award was presented to Drake Campbell of Searcy, an automotive major, and Sara Scott of Searcy, a health sciences major.
The Outstanding Little Rock Air Force Base Campus Student Award was presented to Glenda Gibson of Vilonia, a health information systems major, and Reganne Kowaleski, a Little Rock Air Force Base community college student who is majoring in health sciences.
Dr. Kevin Johnson, assistant professor of history in arts and humanities, was recognized with the Student Government Association (SGA) Outstanding Faculty Award and Jennifer George, a student recruitment coordinator, received the SGA Outstanding Staff Award.
Additionally, the Outstanding Registered Student Organization Award was presented to the Phi Theta Kappa honor society.
At the end of the program, Zackery Tucker, dean of students, thanked Kelley for serving as the 2022-2023 president of the Student Government Association. Kelley then administered the oath of office to theatre major Ashley Clark of Beebe, 2023-2024 president-elect of the SGA. Other SGA officers taking the oath of office were: Madison Ledwaba, student activities council chair, Carter Kirby, SGA sophomore vice president, and Ally Davis, sophomore senator.
Leadership Scholar graduates were also recognized as follows: Taylor Binkley, Emmie Driskill, Lucas Golde, Zayd Kelley, Isaac Pendergrass, Deshawn Thomas, Landen Truax and Bayley Webster.
