2024 Academic Awards Honor Mission-Minded Students

May 1, 2024 | 1-2 min

This April, 27 Florida College students received academic awards for outstanding commitment to their respective areas of study. Bestowed by FC faculty members each spring, academic awards honor upper division students who exemplify love for their discipline, said Dr. Tom Hamilton, Provost and Vice President of Academics. Selection criteria includes critical thinking skills, excellence in communication and sharing their field with others. Faculty also chose students who regularly connect what they’ve learned with knowledge of God’s word in a particular area.

“Whether it’s history or english, these students seek to understand their subject in context of God as our creator, because we approach education as interconnected to the whole person,” Dr. Hamilton explained.

The award also reflects FC’s commitment to graduate students with more than a diploma.

“We’re equipping them to live a life that serves the Lord and their fellow human beings, and we want to help them see the bigger picture,” he remarked. “These students understand their sense of purpose in using their blessings and opportunities in serving the Lord, and the more we equip and educate ourselves the more opportunities we have for God to use us. We want to see well-rounded students who exemplify our broad-based liberal arts foundation for their education and worldview, and these students have certainly distinguished themselves.”

2024 Florida College Academic Award recipients include:

Emma Andrews, Nursing

Emily Balentine, Spanish

Joy Brailey, Social Science & History

Emily Burke, Liberal Studies

Douglas Butler, Music

Noah Eichhorn, Liberal Studies

Robin Forrest, Communications

Rachel Fowler, Education

Mary Gainer, Chemistry

AnnMarie Gandy, Mass Media

Nick Giesing, Sports Management

Mark Harper, D. Phillip Roberts Award in Biblical Studies

Luke Harvison, Mathematics

Emily Hilden, Behavioral Science

Darcy Johnson, Business Administration

Ruth Mahn, Spanish

Leah Myers, Business Administration

Caroline Norris, Biology

Katherine Raif, Mathematics

Payton Roth, Baker Book House Award in Biblical Studies

Spencer Roth, Finance

Saranda Rasmusson, Music Education

Macie Stockton, Marketing

Jessie Trimble, English

Joshua Vaughn, Organizational Communication

Yaritza Vasquez, Kinesiology

Miguel Mateo Osorio Vela, Physics