Honors Students of the Year
Awarded to Honors student who best excels as a leader displaying creativity, innovation, and long-term effectiveness in advancing the mission of the Reaud Honors College and ÃÛÌÒAPP
2023-2024 - INAUGURAL YEAR
Kelvin Elgar (Class of 2024) excelled as a leader by displaying creativity, innovation, and long-term effectiveness in advancing the mission of the Reaud Honors College and ÃÛÌÒAPP. He represented the student body as SGA Senior Class Senator, SEC Vice President of Internal Affairs, Cardinal Orientation Team Leader, and ÃÛÌÒAPP Ambassador.
Within the College of Engineering, Kelvin served as an Engineering Ambassador, Founding President of Cardinal Energy Club, President and Regional Coordinator of the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers, and as a lab assistant for the Center for Advances in Water and Air Quality.
Additionally, Kelvin’s leadership spanned into the community through his work as an honorary board member for Stable Spirits, an equine therapy center, through our college’s Stepping Up Civic Leadership Institute. He was also the inaugural Vice President of Students Consulting for Nonprofits. His leadership contributions earned him the Ann Shaw Leadership Award in his junior year.
Finally, his leadership experiences extended to the entirety of the TSUS System. As the 2023-2024 TSUS Student Regent, appointed by the Governor of Texas, Kelvin represented 90,000 students in the TSUS system to provide a student perspective for decisions made by the Board of Regents and the Chancellor.
Awarded to Honors student who demonstrates exemplary scholastic work in both academics and research within any field
2023-2024 - INAUGURAL YEAR
Jennyfer Zarate (Class of 2024) produced exemplary scholastic work in both academics and research within her field. As a McNair Scholar, Jennyfer conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of Gut Microbiota and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis under mentor Dr. Ashwini Kucknoor. Throughout the course of researching this autoimmune disease, Jennyfer learned techniques in cloning, protein expression, electrophoresis, PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) and RT-PCR (Reverse Transcription PCR), Chromatography, and Spectrography.
After presenting her McNair oral defense at Baylor University and sharing her research at Honors Scholars Day, Jennyfer traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico, to present her research at the SACNAS NDiSTEM Conference, the largest multidisciplinary and multicultural STEM diversity conference in the country.
Awarded to Honors student who demonstrates an ability to build community between the Reaud Honors College and at least one partner from within the ÃÛÌÒAPP community or the greater Southeast Texas area
2023-2024 - INAUGURAL YEAR
Annabelle Broussard (Class of 2024) demonstrated her excellence in selflessly building community, most notably by establishing mobile health clinics in Lima, Peru, as the Public Relations Chair for Medlife, mentoring high school students as an RHC Home for the Holidays Ambassador, and serving as Founding President of the Students Consulting for Nonprofit Organizations.
Her civic leadership journey began with HSA, and her admirable dedication and leadership resulted in AmeriCorps and the White House nationally recognizing our Honors Student Association with the “President’s Volunteer Service Award.”