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NEWS
| april 13, 2004
Administration
Academic achievement rewarded
More than 200 students were honored
for their excellence at the convocation Monday.
By Josh
Bohling
The Shorthorn News Editor
James Spaniolo was both giving and receiving Monday at Texas Hall.
Minutes after taking possession of the symbols of office in an elaborate
investiture ceremony, the UTA president gave awards to more than
200 students as part of the President’s Convocation for Academic
Excellence ceremony.
The convocation honored students who excelled in research, academics
and community service with certificates and plaques. It is part
of the Academic Excellence Week in which most schools, colleges
and organizations across the university honor their best and brightest.
Provost Dana Dunn, who spoke first at the investiture program and
later joined in handing out certificates during the convocation,
said it only made sense to combine the two events.
“We are always student-focused, no matter what we do,”
she said.
Alluding to the school motto, as Spaniolo did earlier in the evening,
Dunn said, “The convocation is evidence we not only ‘expect
great things’ — we achieve them.”
“This [convocation] really encourages students in all fields
to excel academically,” Dunn said after the event.
The first to be honored were University Scholars, who made up the
majority of the honorees. The recognition is based on recommendations
from each school, which in turn, base their decisions on academics
and leadership skills.
“These students represent less than one percent of the student
body,” Dunn said. “They exemplify academic excellence.”
She said each student has his or her own reasons for excelling.
For Victoria Okon, a biology senior and vice president of the Honors
College, the reason is simple.
“I set the bar extremely high for myself,” she said.
“I just feel I have to excel in everything I do.”
She said the awards are motivational for her.
Okon, who was on the Who’s Who Among Students in American
Universities and Colleges last year, said she couldn’t contain
herself when she found out about the honor.
“When I got the letter in my mailbox, I was running around
screaming,” she said. “I was really looking forward
to this.”
Okon and her fellow University Scholars were not the only ones receiving
accolades. Winners of ACES, a research contest held last week for
graduate and undergraduate students that featured cash awards, also
walked the stage.
Hoi Heather Chan, a computer science and engineering senior, was
among the 22 ACES winners.
Chan, who took home the Dean of Honors Award and $100 for her software-based
research project, was so sure she wouldn’t win anything that
she left before the judges at the ACES event announced the winners.
Chan was surprised by her award but said it reflected a simple rule:
“Hard work pays off.”
Other winners appreciated the recognition, but like Kent Hurst,
an urban and city planning graduate student, they were driven by
the pursuit of knowledge.
“This is my third time to return to school,” said the
46-year-old who holds degrees from the University of Pennsylvania
and UT-Austin. “Awards are the last thing I’m here for.
I enjoy the learning experience.”
But Hurst said there was one perk of his award.
“It was neat to shake the new president’s hand,”
he said. “He got to congratulate me, and I got to congratulate
him.”
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