Arcadia University held its annual Honors Convocation on April 6 in the Kuch Center. Four student-athletes—Benjamin Smith, Jasmine Peake, Colton Doering and Jessica Campbell—received prestigious awards at the ceremony. Smith is a men’s soccer player, Peake a women’s tennis player, Doering a men’s lacrosse player and Campbell a softball player.

Smith, a member of the men’s soccer team, received the The Maude A. Farran ’38 and William Benner Farran Award. The award is given to the student who is most proficient in Pre-Law Studies. Smith is the kind of student every professor eagerly welcomes in their classes. He elevates classroom discussion, is eager to learn, and dedicates himself to his academics. He succeeded in the pre-law curriculum and served as judge for the Constitutional Law Oral Argument competition. He studied abroad one semester each in Australia and England. The Political Science faculty expects that success will follow Smith in his future endeavors.

Peake, a member of the women’s tennis team, received the Bette Landman Award, which is given to a student in recognition of his or her outstanding record as a student at Arcadia, commitment to community service, experience studying abroad, and record of academic success. Created by the Student Government Organization at the time of President Landman’s retirement from the University. Peake is a junior Biology major with a Pre-med concentration and a Spanish minor. On campus, she does molecular genetics lab work with Associate Professor of Biology Dr. Naomi Phillips and is president of both the Black Awareness Society and Pushing Our Women of Color to Excel in the Real World. Peake has studied evolutionary bio-design with a focus on arthropod species in the Atacama Desert in Chile. She also volunteers at Thomas Jefferson Hospital in a cancer research lab.

The Elaine P. Maimon Award for Excellence in Freshman Writing was awarded to Doering, a member of the men’s lacrosse team, for superior achievement in writing during his freshman year. This award expresses the University’s belief that writing proficiency is one mark of a liberal education. In essays as various as an argument for regulating political advertisements, an autobiographical literacy narrative, and an analysis of the political differences between liberals and conservatives as seen through the lens of institutional power, Doering has demonstrated a remarkable depth, clarity and control over ideas.  His papers exhibit the rhetorical power that careful logic and deliberative reasoning can produce, his ideas unfolding with compelling logic, rigorous distinctions, persistent questioning of assumptions, and strategic use of evidence and examples.

Campbell, a member of the softball team, was honored by the The Vira I. Heinz Program for Women in Global Leadership with an award of $5,000 for summer study and travel abroad. The award is given to outstanding sophomores or juniors who have shown interest in globalization and leadership, and who, in addition to a good scholastic record, possess the qualities of ambassadors of good will for the United States. This award is offered annually by the Heinz Foundation of Pittsburgh to honor former Trustee Vira I. Heinz. Campbell is a Psychology major with a minor in Spanish. She plans to enter Arcadia’s Physical Therapy program. She will participate in the Heinz Program by volunteering with the Cloud Forest School in Monteverde, Costa Rica, improving her Spanish speaking skills; assisting children in math, English, reading and writing; and putting her softball skills to use, teaching the children about sports, teamwork and leadership. She feels that this experience will assist her in her career goal of becoming a physical therapist specializing in pediatrics.