Four graduating students and one first-year WVU Tech student have been recognized as outstanding in their respective schools and among the Tech community.
The Leonard C. Nelson Presidential Leadership Award was established in 1978 and honors graduating seniors who have made significant contributions to the campus community and have demonstrated academic excellence. The winners will speak at WVU Tech’s Commencement ceremony on May 9. The awardees this year are Avery Lucas from the School of Arts and Sciences, Liam Craven from the School of Business, Andrew Canterbury from the Leonard C. Nelson School of Engineering, and Emily Stack from the School of Nursing.
Lucas, a native of West Hamlin, West Virginia, is a double major in biology and chemistry and earned multiple academic honors while at Tech, including securing a NASA grant and presenting at undergraduate research day. Lucas was president of the American Chemical Society Club and a microbiology lab assistant on top of being a student-athlete on the women’s basketball team. Lucas has been accepted to the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine.
Craven is a sports management major from Brantford, Ontario, Canada. He came to Tech as a student-athlete, an injury put him on the sidelines for basketball, and he instead immersed himself in campus life. He was a Resident Assistant, where he mentored students, organized activities, and served as an Athletic Communications intern. Craven also leads basketball clinics locally and coaches high school basketball in Canada.
Canterbury is a civil engineering major from Clendenin, West Virginia. Canterbury was President of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and helped bring the ASCE Virginias Student Symposium to campus, which brought over 300 engineering students from the region to the Beckley area. He created and launched a new regional competition in Steel-Crete Croquet during the symposium. He was also a Resident Assistant and has interned with TC Energy and Triton Construction.
Stack is a nursing student from Crab Orchard, West Virginia. She is an active member of the Student Nurses Association and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, was named an NAIA Champion of Character, and is a member of the Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society. In addition to being a volleyball player and nursing student completing clinical hours, Stack is active in community service, blood donations, and youth coaching.
The First-Year Student Excellence Award honors one outstanding first-year student who excelled academically and demonstrated leadership and involvement on campus. This year’s winner is Elijah Stewart.
Stewart is a first-generation college student from Pemberton, West Virginia, and has maintained a high GPA during his freshman year. He was recently named the first student in Tech history to be accepted into the prestigious American Red Cross Collegiate Leadership Program, where he will be a liaison between Tech and the Red Cross and coordinate blood drives. He is also the freshman class representative in the Student Nurses Association, holds weekly study sessions, and mentors youth in his church community.
“All of these students have left a lasting impact on the Tech community,” says Dan Sepion, Dean of Students. “All of the graduating seniors have bright futures ahead, and I am excited to see where they go next in their careers. I’m also looking forward to the great things Elijah does on our campus during the rest of his time at Tech,” he says.