Texas Southern University’s best and brightest students along with family and friends filled H&PE Arena March 30 for the annual Honors Day Convocation ceremony. Dr. Willie Capers served as the keynote speaker. Dr. Capers, vice-chair of Clinical and Administrative Health Sciences in the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at TSU, informed students that their investment of hard work today will not only pay off in excellent grades in the present, but increased professional and/or academic opportunities in the future.

The University honored 3,480 students, including those who maintained a 4.0 grade point average and were named to the President’s List, Dean’s List or Honor Roll. Incredibly, TSU has a total of only 6,300 undergraduates. Thus, with 3,480 students earning GPAs of 3.0 or better, the University can rightly boast that over 55 percent of its undergraduates are A/B students – a rate on par with some of the top colleges and universities in the country. All honorees were recognized and awarded a medal for academic achievement.

“The academic prowess of our students does not surprise me one bit,” said TSU’s president, Dr. Austin A. Lane. “We are charged as a special purpose institution for urban programming to provide opportunities for students who just need a chance; many of whom are first generation college students. And what we’ve found is these are the students who appreciate a college education more than most. Thus, they invest fully in their educational pursuits, as evidenced by the nearly 3,500 students we are honoring.”

TSU reserved special praise for 18 students who earned 4.0 GPAs in 2016 for the spring and fall semesters – Veronica Adams, Ali Bilal, Raven Britt, Oliverio Bravo, Kelly Colbert, Erika Ferretiz, Samuel Kanu, Rickeena Gresham, Farah Khawar, Cierra Griffin, Renald Moore, Kierra Patton, Graudencio Lucca, Elizabeth Munoz, Tuyen Nguyen, Janie Peacock, Theodoro Santos and Franklina Tsiboe.

Aaron Dallas, a sophomore majoring in Marketing, delivered the invocation. Donisha Sowell, a junior majoring in Radio, Television and Film, introduced Dr. Capers. Keyese Musse, a sophomore majoring in music, sang the Alma Mater. McKenzie Jones, a freshman majoring in Maritime Transportation Management and Security, gave the benediction. Students from the University Opera Workshop and University Wind Ensemble provided musical selections during the Convocation.

Associate Provost, Dr. Elizabeth Brown-Guillory, who served as the event’s Mistress of Ceremony, spoke on the significance of the event.

“Honors Day Convocation is an opportunity for members of the Texas Southern University community to assemble for the purpose of celebrating the most basic of our core values – student success,” said Brown-Guillory. She pointed out that though Honors Day Convocation shines a well-deserved spotlight on students, it also reveals the commitment of TSU faculty and staff to bring out the best in students.

“Our students’ academic excellence inspires Honors Day Convocation and other such celebrations, which in turn, motivates students, faculty and staff members to work even harder and achieve even more. It may sound cliché, but it really is true: at TSU, there really is excellence in achievement.”