Contact: Sammy McDavid
Nearly two dozen Mississippi State students are being recognized for hard work in the classroom by the university's Richard Holmes Cultural Diversity Center.
At a recent campus banquet, the center presented Academic Achievement Awards to the top African American, Hispanic/Latino American, Asian American, and Native American scholars of the 2000-01 school year. The students were selected by their respective college deans.
Holmes, the first African American to enroll at MSU and the center's namesake, was featured speaker for the event. Formerly of Starkville, he now is a Birmingham, Ala., physician.
This year's honorees include (by hometown):
ABERDEEN--Krystal D. Hernandez, a senior management major and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Heladio L. Hernandez.
ATHENS, Ala.--Jennifer N. Simmons, a senior art major and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jon Simmons.
CEDARBLUFF--Elena R. Whitefoot, a senior economics major (parents not listed).
DeKALB--Zackory D. Kirk, a senior secondary English education major (parents not listed).
ECRU--Michelle S. Morgan, a junior landscape architecture major and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Morgan.
GRENADA--Lameeka Q. Eskridge, a senior accounting major (parents not listed).
GULFPORT--Lynn Parker, a junior general business administration major and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Parker; and Heather Y. Wrin, a junior biochemistry major (parents not listed).
HAMILTON--Margie Tucker, a senior technology teacher education major (parents not listed).
JACKSON--Preston B. McAllister, a junior computer engineering major (parents not listed); and Stacey L. Wong, a junior accounting major and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jackson Wong.
MERIDIAN--Edward C. Randle, a senior business administration major at MSU-Meridian (parents not listed).
NETTLETON--Lee E. Brand, a senior human sciences/family life major (parents not listed).
PHILADELPHIA--Jennifer L. Stokes, a senior psychology major (parents not listed).
RAYMOND--Erica L. Thomas, a senior biological sciences major and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ray F. Thomas.
SLIDELL, La.--Cristina L. Romano, a junior animal and dairy science/pre-veterinary medicine major and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Esteban Romano.
STARKVILLE--Yee-Roo L. Lin, a senior biological sciences major; Transito L. Macias, a senior chemical engineering major; Aurora L. Nunez-Rogers, a senior art major; and Hsiao-en J. Wen, a junior business information systems major. (No parents were listed for any Starkville student.)
UNION--Lisa L. Chesney, a senior accounting major and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Donald Chesney.