A Black Appalachian first-generation college student graduating with a cumulative 4.0 grade-point average, a two-term Mountaineer Mascot passionate about finding novel therapies for mental health disorders and a young entrepreneur who has worked to empower small farmers in West Virginia are among the accomplished student leaders who have been honored with West Virginia University’s most prestigious student award, the Order of Augusta.
These eight students have distinguished themselves not only by their outstanding academic performance, but also their steadfast dedication to research, efforts to narrow the achievement gap for underrepresented students in their home state and to advance social justice in their communities and beyond.