Wheat

• STARKVILLE — Shelby Wheat of Clarkdale High School was one of more than a dozen high school students who participated in the second annual World Food Prize Mississippi Youth Institute at Mississippi State University.

Hosted by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, students from across Mississippi spent the day engaged in conversation about global food security with their peers, teachers, MSU faculty and administrators and various food security experts. Wheat discussed the risks of consuming unpasteurized milk in countries like Venezuela.

Attendees were officially designated Borlaug Scholars for their participation and are eligible for scholarships to Mississippi State University. The Borlaug Scholars pay tribute to the World Food Prize’s founder Norman E. Borlaug. To become a Borlaug Scholar, each student wrote a research paper about a developing country and a food security topic. Each project included innovative ways to improve global food security. The students presented their findings at the on-campus event.

Students also attended the college’s Charles E. Lindley Lecture. Charles H. Beady Jr., CEO of the Mississippi Food Network, presented on hunger in the Magnolia State. His presentation, “Mississippi: The Hungriest State in the Nation” explained how MFN is addressing food insecurity.

Top students from World Food Prize Mississippi Youth Institute will be invited to the Global Youth Institute in Iowa in October. Participating students also are eligible to apply to the Borlaug Ruan International Internship and the USDA Wallace-Carver Fellowship.

CLINTON —Taylor Hathorn of Waynesboro was one of 89 outstanding Mississippi College students recognized at the initial meeting of the newly revised “Who’s Who” chapter on the Clinton campus.

Students selected to the “Who’s Who” organization are evaluated on the basis of their academic performance, community service and leadership skills.

MC officials acted to keep the campus organization alive in Clinton after the national Who’s Who organization stopped accepting student nominations for 2017-18. Henry Pettus Randall, then a University of Alabama student, founded the national organization in 1934. Chapters grew over more than 80 years of existence to honor top-notch students at more than 1,000 colleges and universities across the USA. But financial problems mounted last year. And the Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities discontinued its honors program.

• TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Mackenzie Ross of Meridian, Mississippi, a graduate student at The University of Alabama, was named the recipient of the 2018 Bruce K. Berger Graduate Student Leadership Award.

The department of advertising and public relations at UA established this award in 2013 to honor one graduate student in the advertising and public relations Master of Arts program for exemplary leadership. The students in the M.A. program vote and select the student who best demonstrates passion for work and the public relations profession, exemplifies a strong ethical orientation and employs an inclusive style of leadership.

Ross currently serves as the graduate assistant for The Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations and as a graduate teaching assistant for the Department of Communication Studies, teaching Public Speaking labs. She graduated summa cum laude from UA last May with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Information Sciences.

During her time as an undergraduate student, Ross received the Susan Colvin Prize, honoring the top student in the College of Communication and Information Sciences; the William P. Bloom Premier Award, recognizing one student for outstanding service and collaboration; and The University of Alabama Outstanding Senior Award.

• TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Caroline Wigley of Gilbertown recently was selected for the Capstone Men and Women group at The University of Alabama.

Capstone Men and Women serve as official ambassadors of UA. They assist the University president’s office, admissions and alumni during functions held on campus and in other locations, as well as host daily tours of the campus for prospective students and other visitors.

• JACKSONVILLE, Ala. — Iasiah Adams and Kyndal Long, both of Butler, Jakayla Coleman of Lisman and Waddie McGrew of Gilbertown were among more than 2,600 students welcomed into the 2018 Freshman Class at Jacksonville State University.

• RAYMOND — Verie Clemons of Lauderdale, Todd Williams of Lake, Demarkus Ramsey of Macon, Willie Portis of Toomsuba and Jeremy Ellis of Union have been named Hinds Community College Deans’ Scholars for the Fall 2017 semester.

Deans’ Scholars are those students with a cumulative 3.5 to 3.9 grade point average.

• RAYMOND — Ayla Porter, Randy Fuller and Myi Fikes, all of Meridian, April Dade of Decatur, Charles Evans of Newton and Donna Myers of Philadelphia have been named Hinds Community College President’s Scholars for the Fall 2017 semester.

President’s Scholars are those with a cumulative 4.0 grade point average.

• CLINTON — The following residents were named to the Dean’s List at Mississippi College for Fall 2017: James Gibson III, Joya Johnson, Kaitlyn Knuth, Amanda Price, Haylee Riley and Julianna Stephens, all of Meridian; Christy Bryan and Ali Pike, both of Philadelphia; Adonia Ross of Toomsuba; Muriel Collins of Union; Anastasia Crout of Lake; John Edwards; and Dalton Outz of Macon.

To be eligible for the Dean’s List, a student must maintain a 3.5 grade point average, based on a 4.0 system. The student must take a full course load of at least 12 semester hours of undergraduate credit with all academic courses impacting their grade point average.

RAYMOND — The following area residents were among December graduates at Hinds Community College: Tavaris Allen, Jaleen Brown, Myi Fikes, James Lawson, Chrishonn Manning and Christopher Therrell, all of Meridian; Tobias Austin of Lauderdale; Laroderick Lyles of Lake; Lawrence Lewis of Macon; Kendrick Gallaspy of Newton; Mark Hill of Russell; Jimmy Smith of Union; Brandon James, Derrick Lacey, Shelby Simmons and Raymond Wolfe, all of Waynesboro.

Hinds graduated more than 1,000 students in three ceremonies at the Muse Center on the Rankin Campus. Among the graduates, 129 achieved summa cum laude, a 4.0 grade point average; 74 achieved magna cum laude, a 3.6 to 3.99 GPA and 21 achieved cum laude, 3.2 to 3.59.