SU Honors College Annual Pinning Ceremony

On Friday, March 16th, the annual Delores Spikes Honors College Pinning Ceremony took place in the Smith-Brown Memorial Union Ballroom.
The program is dedicated to the students in the Honors College who have been excelling academically over the fall and spring semesters.
This year’s Pinning Ceremony detailed the individual accomplishments of the students, along with featuring the 2017 cohort’s accomplishments in the short time they have been on campus.
With the Royal Cotillion Ballroom at maximum capacity, there was not a single empty seat in the room. The young men dressed in black jackets and white shirts, while the young women wore a sea of white.
Speeches from the likes of Board of Supervisors Chairwoman, Ann A. Smith and SUS distinguished professor of Physics and Honors College Dean, Dr. Diola Bagayoko provided the opportunity for the students to be imbued with special words of wisdom.
When asked about the success of such a historic Southern event, Dr. Bagayoko decided to give credit to the speaker of the night, Dr. Ann A. Smith.
When asked what he hoped this event would instill in the youth in attendance, he simply said, “To give back to the community.”
Many of the students who were honored had plenty to express about what this form of recognition felt like.
For freshman civil engineering major from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, A’Lasiah Floyd, this honor only strengthened her resolve to work towards the future.
“An accomplishment like this provokes me to move forward…basically to do better, keep doing what I’m doing, maintaining a great GPA, keep focusing on what I need to do, and proceed to graduate at the top with an engineering degree,” Floyd asserted.
Similarly, Mechanical Engineering major from St. Francisville, Louisiana, Melvin Emory III, felt inspired enough to admit it.
“Events like this encourage us to do more, to do better, and to give back, just as Dr. Bagayoko said and to give a good return on the investment that our parents have made,” he expressed.
The students were at the peak of what the Honors College of Southern University has to offer.
As mentioned by Dr. Bagayoko, there were numerous students in attendance who had managed to maintain 4.0 GPAs while juggling extracurricular activities, such as SGA, sports, and many other organizations.
The message of the night was echoed by all of the guest speakers in attendance: “giving back to the community.”
As stated by Emory III, the students being honored were not only serving to be symbols in and of themselves, but also serving the importance of the sacrifices made by their parents and themselves to put them in the position they are currently in.