Samford University’s Frances Marlin Mann Center for Ethics and Leadership presented its 5th annual Leadership and Character Awards at a Nov. 11 ceremony.
Students were nominated from each of Samford’s 10 academic schools by the deans, and one student- athlete was nominated by the athletics director. These 11 Samford students were chosen as tops in their respective schools in combined academics, positive character, ethical leadership and service to others.
Drayton Nabers, Mann Center director, opened the ceremony. “This is a very special day in the life of the Mann Center,” Nabers said. “It gives the center an opportunity to recognize leadership and ethical orientation of our students.”
Nabers also acknowledged the family members in the audience and others who had been instrumental in laying ethical foundations for the students who were being awarded.
The 2017 honorees are:
William Hammonds (McWhorter School of Pharmacy), third year student from Geraldine, Alabama;
Josey Hartley (School of Public Health), senior nutrition and dietetics major from Pewaukee, Wisconsin;
Tyler Kerley (Beeson Divinity School), third year graduate student from Benton, Illinois;
Callan Kreidel (Brock School of Business), senior management major from Franklin, Tennessee;
Anna Maddox (Samford Athletics, Soccer), senior nursing major from Warner Robins, Georgia;
Brittany Mercer (Cumberland School of Law), third year student from Sand Rock, Alabama;
Corey Noles (School of Health Professions), graduate student in respiratory care, School of Health Professions, from Birmingham;
Michael Ann Peavy (Orlean Beeson School of Education), senior human development and family science major from Montgomery, Alabama;
Amirah Rimal (Ida Moffett School of Nursing), graduate family nurse practitioner student from Houston, Texas;
Keely Smith (Howard College of Arts and Sciences), senior history, Spanish and global studies major from Alpharetta, Georgia; and
Claire Wells (School of the Arts), senior theatre for youth major from Montgomery.
Smith earned the additional honor of the Mann Center’s Joe McDade Scholarship, which carries a one-time gift of $3,500. The ideal nominee for the Joe McDade Scholarship demonstrates a life and character lived in the spirit of Christ; a contribution to the overall betterment and wellbeing of the university; participation in a wide range of campus life; leadership ability; an embodiment of the overall goals, mission, and spirit of the university; and commitment to the long-range development and wellbeing of the university.
Funding for the scholarship came from 1961 graduate Joe McDade.
Samford President Andrew Westmoreland gave an encouraging word to the honorees at the ceremony. He said, “We’ve been given so much, all of us have been given so much. Truly we understand the necessity for us in responding to the call of Christ in giving to others in a world that is in such need, and to do it all in an ethical way that brings people together and promotes goodness.”
Olivia Halverson is a journalism and mass communication major and a news and feature writer in the Division of Marketing and Communication.