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Atlanta, GA | Posted: April 24, 2018
Annette Filliat
Communications Manager
Institute Diversity
annette.filliat@gatech.edu
Summary Sentence:
Among the more than 1,400 undergraduate and graduate students eligible to receive a 2018 Tower Award (an increase of 200 over the previous year), more than 350 students were recognized during the annual award ceremony on April 5.
Full Summary:
No summary paragraph submitted.
Tower Awards Ceremony 
OMED Student Mentor Award Recipient Charles Van-Hein Sackey
GTBAO Unsung Hero Award Recipient Alexander Pegues
Tower Awards Ceremony For 24 years, OMED: Educational Services has hosted the Tower Awards to celebrate the academic achievements of underrepresented students at Georgia Tech. Among the more than 1,400 undergraduate and graduate students eligible to receive a 2018 Tower Award (an increase of 200 over the previous year), more than 350 students were recognized during the annual award ceremony on April 5.
“As we celebrated the 24th anniversary of this award, we marked a milestone in recent years as more than 1,400 underrepresented students were academically eligible to receive a Tower Award in 2018,” said Denise Ocasio, assistant director for OMED. “This is a significant testament to our students’ scholastic abilities, work ethic, and commitment to excellence.”
Award categories included Ph.D. Awards, Master’s Awards (graduating GPA of 3.5 or higher), Graduating Senior Awards (cumulative GPA of 3.15 or higher), Sustained Awards (cumulative GPA of 3.15 or higher), Yearly Awards (GPA of 3.15 or higher over the past three semesters), and First-Year Awards (cumulative GPA of 3.15 or higher). Within each award category, except the Ph.D. and Master’s Awards, sub-categories included Bronze (GPA of 3.15-3.49), Silver (GPA of 3.50-3.94), and Gold (GPA of 3.95 or higher).
Two special honors were also presented: the Georgia Tech Black Alumni Organization (GTBAO) Unsung Hero Award and OMED Student Mentor Award. Alexander Pegues, undergraduate student in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, received the GTBAO Unsung Hero Award, and Charles Van-Hein Sackey, undergraduate student in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, was honored with the OMED Student Mentor Award. Both also received a 2018 Tower Award.
Pegues remarked, “The GTBAO Unsung Hero Award is quite special. When I accepted this award, it was not just for me but for all of the people who are working in the background to organize events and set ideas in motion to increase the social well-being at our institution.”
“This award recognition is a tribute to how much I have learned from each of my outstanding mentees within and outside of OMED,” said Van-Hein Sackey. “OMED has been a haven for academic excellence and a great support system for students like me. I will always be grateful to OMED for giving me that exposure and pushing me to excel in all facets of my life at Georgia Tech.”
Part of Institute Diversity’s Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion (CSDI), OMED is supported by more than 25 corporate partners and sponsors who attended and provided raffle giveaways at the Tower Awards. Corporate partners include 3M, BP, John Deere, Procter & Gamble, and Southwire.
CSDI Executive Director S. Gordon Moore Jr. concluded, “The aspirations in the Institute’s strategic plan can only be truly realized if we foster a fluid pipeline of talented, innovative, strategic, engaged, and compassionate students. At the Tower Awards, we honor the students who meet these criteria and walk the talk, and we applaud their hard work, persistence, and determination.”
To learn more about the Tower Awards, visit www.omed.gatech.edu.
