Phillips-Perry Black Excellence Awards: 2018

This video, titled The 25th Phillips-Perry Black Excellence Awards, occurred in McKinnon Hall on April 28, 2018. Tyrone Jean, Assistant Dean of Students and Director of the Center for Race, Ethnicity, and Diversity, asked the audience, “What is Black Excellence? Black Excellence is more than black girl magic or black boy joy. Although bodied in this space. Black Excellence is more than kinda forever. Although, surely it is a powerful thing.” 00:00:51 Jean crossed his arms and clicked his hands together. 00:00:56 “Black Excellence is young people achieving things that their ancestors only dreamed of. Black Excellence is Lumen Scholars, Phi Beta Kappa recipients, scholarship recipients, student leaders, and academic achievement. Black Excellence is senior leaders – working together to implement recommendations to enhance the experience of black faculty, staff, and students.” Jean continued to acknowledge the Elon personnel who are not recognized on campus. He spoke of the black housekeepers in the residence halls and academic spaces, who clean up after the students and make Elon a pristine home. He spoke of the Physical Plant employees who manicure the grounds at Elon. The Dining Hall staff who prepare the students meals and greet them with a warm smile that he stated. Jean spoke of the endless hours black faculty and staff worked to make everything perfect for Black Excellence. “Black Excellence is the Village that it took to get you to this point in your lives,” stated Jean. Brandon Bell worked on the Black Excellence planning of the Black Excellence Awards evening. 00:06:32 Kenneth Brown, 2018-2019 Student Government Association President (SGA). Brown received a lot of applause. Brown introduced President Connie Ledoux Book. “It is my pleasure to introduce the 9th Elon President, Connie Ledoux Book,” stated Brown. 00:09:23 Brown and Ledoux Book shook hands. 00:09:44 “Thank you, Kenneth, for that lovely introduction.” President Book spoke of her parents being share-croppers. President Book was one of 9 children in 11 years. She is number six of the nine children. Her dad joined the Air Force so he could go to school on the GI Bill. Her father taught math and physics. Her mom was a nurse. Her parents realized if their nine children were going to obtain college educations, her father had to advance his degree to a PhD. They had a family meeting and they picked Oregon. 00:11:24 President Book was six years old at the point in her life. President Book’s brother was six weeks old as they were moving to Oregon from Louisiana. In the car, driving out of the driveway her father said, “We are all going to school.” President Book stated, “I am very proud to be here to witness this come true.” President Book continued to speak about creating an idea, building the concept, and implementing the idea into practice as a liberating act. She spoke of a June 2015 shooting at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, while being at the Citadel College, as the first woman Provost. President Book continued that she had to be measured for her Citadel uniform by Miss Brown. She continued with what she learned during her uniform fitting with Miss Brown. President Book said that Miss Brown was her teacher. President Book stated, “She is committed for making (Elon) a college for the world. And I am very grateful that you believed in us. We have work to do this fall in the next strategic plan. It is very important that your voices are a part of that. That we can continued to make the improvements as an institution.” 00:38:55 Randy Williams gave out academic awards. 00:41:26 Steven House gave out engagement awards. Honored students, faculty and staff at this year's ceremony included the following: Elon Experiences Awards; Excellence in Internships Awardee - Victoria Parrish; Excellence in Leadership Awardee, Kellcee Batchelor; Excellence in Service & Civic Engagement Awardee - Abbie Robinson; Excellence in Study Abroad/Study USA Awardee - Alexis Williams; and Excellence in Undergraduate Research Awardee - Sydney Brown. The following individuals received Academic Excellence Awards: Male Student Athlete - Tyler Stanley, Men’s Baseball; Female Student Athlete - Nyah Spearman, Women’s Soccer; First-year with the Highest GPA - Chandler Vaughan; Sophomore with the Highest GPA - Petra-Marie Edwards; Junior with the Highest GPA- La'shaundranique Marshall; and Senior with the Highest GPA- Gabrielle Beamon. Other awards included: Elon Black Alumni Network Scholarship, Jordan Vaughn; African & African-American Studies at Elon Award, Janae Williams; Wilhelmina Boyd Community Service Award, Sandra Reid, Lecturer in Human Services Studies; and the Janice Ratliff Community Service Award, Marilyn Slade, Program Assistant in the CREDE. Since the inception of the Black Excellence Awards in 1993, Elon students, parents, alumni, faculty, staff and friends of the community have gathered annually to celebrate the accomplishments of the black students enrolled full-time in the undergraduate program at Elon University. The banquet was officially named the Phillips-Perry Black Excellence Awards Banquet in 2006 in honor of Elon’s first black student, Glenda Phillips, and the first black graduate, Eugene Perry. The mission is to recognize, celebrate, and affirm students who excel in academics, leadership, internship, study abroad, research, and service-learning. The Center for Race, Ethnicity & Diversity Education remains committed to this mission by helping students become active participants in their personal growth and in the achievement of their educational objectives. Some names included: L’Tanya Richmond, Dr. Leon Williams, Melissa Jordan, and students with high grade point averages.