NC Community Colleges Celebrate Excellence in Education

RALEIGH – Governor Roy Cooper has proclaimed April as “North Carolina Community College Excellence in Education Month.”  Students from all 58 community colleges are receiving awards for academic excellence, as well as the Governor Robert W. Scott Student Leadership Award and the Dr. Dallas Herring Achievement Award.

Kimberly Johnson, a student at Alamance Community College, is the 2017 recipient of the Governor Robert W. Scott Student Leadership Award.  The award, sponsored by the North Carolina Association of Community College Presidents (NCACCP), was created in 2004 to recognize student leadership on a statewide level while also honoring former Governor Scott, one of the earliest supporters of the NC Community College System and the fourth System President from 1983 until 1994. Each award recipient receives a plaque and a $1,000 scholarship from the NC Community Colleges Foundation.

Najma Hasan, a student at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, is the 2017 recipient of the Dr. Dallas Herring Achievement Award.  The award was established in 2010 by the NCACCP to honor the late Dr. Dallas Herring, considered one of the founding fathers of community colleges in North Carolina.  The award is bestowed annually upon a current or former student who best embodies Dr. Herring’s philosophy of “taking people where they are and carrying them as far as they can go.” Each award recipient receives a plaque and a $1,000 scholarship from the NC Community Colleges Foundation.

One student from each of the 58 community colleges received Academic Excellence Awards (AEA).  AEA selection requirements are consistent with Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society criteria. Students:

• Must be currently enrolled,
• Must have completed at least 12 semester hours in an associate degree program, and
• Must have a cumulative grade point average of no less than 3.25.

Each student receives a plaque and medallion in honor of their academic accomplishments. 

Anh Nguyen, Alamance Community College

Christina DeLoach, Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College

Ric Balanay, Beaufort County Community College

Anthony Ray Kennedy, Bladen Community College

Mark Phillip Rubianes, Blue Ridge Community College

Daisha Jordan, Brunswick Community College

Marco Leonardo Chumbimuni, Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute

Jennifer Liebelt, Cape Fear Community College

Laura Caitlin Ritchie, Carteret Community College

Sierra Tuttle, Catawba Valley Community College

Tiffany Monique Gee, Central Carolina Community College

Philomena De Piante, Central Piedmont Community College

Charles White, Cleveland Community College

Emily Furey-West, Coastal Carolina Community College

Cammie McMahan, College of The Albemarle

McKenzie Sandoval, Craven Community College

Constance Morse, Davidson County Community College

Yosimar Vargas, Durham Technical Community College

Nassar Ali Hill, Edgecombe Community College

Toni Gorzkowski, Fayetteville Technical Community College

Irene Bantigue, Forsyth Technical Community College

Ryan Booth, Gaston College

Jana Carver, Guilford Technical Community College

Nichole Medlin, Halifax Community College

Leanne Marquis, Haywood Community College

Shakyra Davis, Isothermal Community College

Kenneth Boney, James Sprunt Community College

Anna Ekis, Johnston Community College

Chris Combs, Lenoir Community College

Amanda Vick, Martin Community College

Teresa Denise Ennis, Mayland Community College

Len Effler, McDowell Technical Community College

Brittany Whitaker, Mitchell Community College

Taylor Ross Sarks, Montgomery Community College

Joshua West, Nash Community College

Raydeijah Morning, Pamlico Community College

Cristian McLaughlin, Piedmont Community College

Angel Daniel Andrade, Pitt Community College

Kirsten Faith Stovall, Randolph Community College

Kimberly Sheppard, Richmond Community College

Mary Green, Roanoke-Chowan Community College

Tammy Small Cox, Robeson Community College

Olga Diaz-Rios, Rockingham Community College

Aaron Humphrey, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College

Toledo Kemmer, Sampson Community College

Zachary Rhyner, Sandhills Community College

Lou Smith, South Piedmont Community College

Austin Todd, Southeastern Community College

Debra Jean Cumbie, Southwestern Community College

Kimberly Ogle, Stanly Community College

Erin “Peyton” Jones, Surry Community College

Melissa Anne Myers, Tri-County Community College

Paul Caroline, Vance-Granville Community College

Swarnadurga “Durga” Sivamani, Wake Technical Community College

John “Bryant” Balance, Wayne Community College

Madelyn Welch, Western Piedmont Community College

Sarah Elizabeth Shepherd, Wilkes Community College

Beverly Carter, Wilson Community College