Two Winthrop University athletes won the top recognition at the 2019 Student Affairs Awards ceremony on April 17 at the DiGiorgio Campus Center.

Sociology major Joey Jennings of Jefferson City, Tennessee, captured the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award. A member of the track and field team, Jennings earned the Athletic President’s Honor Roll every semester while simultaneously holding leadership positions in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and the Student Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC). He led his peers in the community service group, volunteering in retirement homes and reading to children, and also presented his research on the local and national level. After graduation, he plans to pursue a doctorate in sociology, focusing his research on social inequality, race relations and police brutality.

Biology major Brooke Ellison of Williamston, South Carolina, received the Mary Mildred Sullivan Award. She balanced being a member of the softball team with leadership positions in FCA and SAAC, even representing the latter as the Big South Conference representative – all while maintaining an impressive GPA. She spent a summer volunteering at the Greenville Free Medical Clinic and Shriner’s Children’s Hospital and helped with Project Hope. She plans to pursue graduate study to become a physician assistant.

Kionna Greene, a biology major from Sumter, won the prestigious American Legion Award, presented annually to a student who displays outstanding courage, companionship, character, service and scholarship.

Greene learned about servant leadership at a young age through church volunteer work. At Winthrop, she has served on the Resident Students’ Association (RSA), the Council of Student Leaders (CSL) and during the MLK Day of Service. She plans to attend chiropractic school following graduation.

Known as someone who “helps attack problems from a different angle,” mathematics major Claire Berchtold was recognized with the Gloria Godfrey Jones Outstanding Tutor Award. In addition to her work within the Academic Success Center (ASC) and Math Tutorial Center, Berchtold held leadership positions on the ASC’s Tutor Council and Winthrop’s Nu Epsilon Rho Delta (NERDs) chapter.

The Muslim Student Association captured the Outstanding Student Organization Award, particularly for the event Unity for Humanity, which brought together four student organizations.

Additional awards included:

*Diversity and Student Engagement Award: Leyia Grant, mathematics

*Cynthia A. Cassens Resident Assistant of the Year Award: Jamodd Jenkins, education

*College Panhellenic Council Woman of the Year: Anna Leigh Taylor, history

*National Pan-Hellenic Council Woman of the Year: Destinee Waddy, exercise science

*Interfraternity Council Man of the Year: Brandon Dill, computer science and information systems

*Champion’s Cup Award: Fencing Club

*Grant Scurry Dedication Award: Joe Black, economics

*Exemplary Service by an Individual Award: Victoria Schwark, human nutrition

*Organization with Exemplary Record of Service: Pi Kappa Phi

*Wellness Advocate Award: Katherine Poulnot, psychology

*Wellness Alliance Award: Julianne Schrader, assistant director of Residence Life

*Fred Angerman Quality Staff Award – Doris Kelly, Dining Services; and Howard Seidler, interim director of Residence Life