Shawnee, Topeka students win 2003 Ex.C.E.L. Awards at KU

LAWRENCE -- Casey Collier, Shawnee senior, and Jacob Williams, Topeka senior, were honored as Ex.C.E.L. Award winners Oct. 18 at the University of Kansas homecoming football game at Memorial Stadium.

Collier and Williams received the 12th annual Excellence in Community, Education and Leadership Awards.

Marlesa Roney, KU vice provost for student success; Laura Heidbrider, Student Union Activities vice president for university relations; and Genevieve Gordon, senior class president, presented the awards. SUA and the Board of Class Officers also honored the 10 Ex.C.E.L. Award finalists.

Casey Collier, senior in communication studies, is the daughter of Janice Collier of Shawnee and is a Shawnee Mission North High School graduate. Collier is vice president for her sorority, Delta Gamma, holds a seat in Student Senate and served as a coordinator for Colors of KU, a university diversity retreat. She was an orientation assistant for KU New Student Orientation, served as a liaison between the KU Panhellenic Association and the National Panhellenic Council, and volunteers with the Center for Community Outreach, Mentors in the Lives of Kids and the campus blood drive. Collier plans to graduate in May 2004, travel to Italy and upon return attend law school in the Los Angeles area.

Jacob Williams, senior in business administration, is the son of Meredith and Joan Williams of Topeka and is a Topeka West High School graduate. Williams is vice president for his fraternity, Beta Theta Pi, and served as an orientation assistant for KU New Student Orientation. He is a teaching assistant for KU's PRE 101, a campus introductory and life skills class. He is an active volunteer with the KU Alternative Breaks program and has spent three spring breaks volunteering throughout the nation, two of which he served as the site leader. Williams volunteers with the Boys and Girls Club of Douglas County and Habitat for Humanity. He organized Project Help, a community service program providing aid for local senior citizens. Williams plans to graduate in May or August 2004 with a degree in business administration and a minor in leadership studies.

KU SUA and the Board of Class Officers established the Ex.C.E.L. Award program in 1991 to recognize one male and one female student for achievement and to add student interest to annual homecoming festivities.

An SUA and Board of Class Officers selection committee chose finalists on the basis of leadership, effective communication skills, involvement in the KU community, academic scholarship and ability to work with a wide variety of students and organizations. The award differs from most student awards because winners must work on a leadership conference during the school year in conjunction with the KU Center for Campus Life.

To be eligible, applicants must be full-time undergraduate students with an overall grade-point average of 3.0 or higher. Each student completed an application and participated in an interview.

The finalists included: Taylor Brummel, Garnett senior in journalism; Toluwalas Ajayi, Lawrence senior in psychology and English; Jake Albers, Lawrence senior in business administration and mechanical engineering; Fallon Farokhi, Lawrence senior in elementary education; Margaret Perkins-McGuinness, Lawrence senior in Latin American studies; Andy Knopp, Manhattan senior in business; Laura Dakhil, Wichita senior in journalism; and Richard Friesner, Albuquerque, N.M., senior in environmental studies.