MSU-Meridian recognizes outstanding graduates in Spring 2020
MERIDIAN, Miss.—Five spring graduates at Mississippi State University-Meridian are being recognized as outstanding students for the Spring 2020 semester. They are among 110 students who are receiving diplomas, including 31 honor graduates, nine Riley Scholars and four Stephen D. Lee Scholars.
The honorees include:
—Kayla Maree Jordan of Sweet Water, Alabama, Outstanding Undergraduate Student for the Division of Arts and Sciences and recipient of the Dennis J. Mitchell Award for Excellence. Earning her degree in history, Jordan is a member of several national honor societies including Phi Theta Kappa and Alpha Chi Honor Society, with members ranking in the top 10% of students. She also is a member of Phi Alpha Theta, the History honors society, and received the Martha Swain Outstanding Scholar Award, a prestigious honor given by the MSU History department to a graduating senior with a GPA of at least 3.75 who best exemplifies the ideals of Phi Alpha Theta. Jordan is being recognized for completing her degree with highest honors (summa cum laude) and as a Stephen D. Lee Scholar for earning a 4.0 grade-point average throughout her college career. She has been accepted into MSU’s graduate history program and will be a graduate teaching assistant in the department.
—Cassie L. Green of Meridian, Outstanding Undergraduate Student for the Division of Business. An accounting major, Green is a highest honor (summa cum laude) graduate, a Riley Scholar and a Stephen D. Lee Scholar, earning a 4.0 grade-point average throughout her college career. She also is a member of Phi Theta Kappa and Alpha Chi Honor Society, with members ranking in the top 10% of students. For the past year, while attending MSU-Meridian, Green also interned at Kemp, Williams, Steverson and Bernard, a local accounting firm, and she now has accepted a full-time position as a staff accountant with this firm.
—Steven Craig Miller of Laurel, Outstanding Graduate Student for the Division of Business. A Professional MBA major with a minor in marketing, Miller was an active member of MSU-Meridian’s Collegiate DECA program as an undergraduate and graduate student, serving as local chapter president for two terms. He also has held several statewide positions, including vice president, and currently is serving a third term as board chair for the Mississippi Collegiate DECA Association. After more than 12 years in banking, Miller was named business office manager at Internal Medicine Clinic in Meridian this February.
—Clover Rayeann Eakes of Philadelphia, Outstanding Undergraduate Student for the Division of Education. An elementary education major, she is a member of Phi Theta Kappa, a Riley Scholar and highest honor (summa cum laude) graduate. The daughter of an educator, Eakes always desired to become a teacher and never wavered from that trajectory. This fall she will begin her teaching career at Neshoba Central Middle School in Philadelphia as a seventh-grade math teacher.
—Timothy C. Herlong of Lauderdale, Outstanding Graduate Student for the Division of Education. A network analyst at MSU-Meridian, he began his career with Mississippi State in 1999. Years after he had begun coursework toward a degree in instructional technology, he returned to school to pursue a Master of Arts in Teaching Community College Education degree, with an emphasis in information technology. Herlong felt the MAT degree seemed the best fit with his previous coursework and would allow him to teach classes at a community college or even within the university as an adjunct, should the opportunity arise.
To learn more about MSU-Meridian, visit meridian.msstate.edu.
MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.