Northeast Texas Community College Presidential Scholar, Kayleah Cumpian, of Mount Pleasant, narrowly edged out a junior from John Brown University to become the 2015 Student Representative of the Great Plains Honors Council (GBHC). She succeeds another former NTCC Presidential Scholar, Matthew Jordan, now a member of Texas Tech Honors.† This is the first time in the recorded 40-year history of the GPHC that the foremost student position of the association passed from one student to another of the same community college. The GPHC not only includes 80 college and university honors programs, but also honors colleges such as those at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State.
Cumpian had a resume that was hard to beat.† She has won Caldwell, Walter B. Cooper, and Star awards, plus the foremost award of the GPHC, a Boe Award.† She presented her work on Wright Patman to the plenary meeting of the GPHC in Fort Smith, Arkansas last March, and to the National Collegiate Honors Council in November.† Last summer she won both a full-ride week at Duke University to study the use of mathematics in bio-medical research, and an REU internship in chemistry.† She directed the upcoming honors film on Harriet Potter, and has a 4.0 GPA.
?Kayleah has been like a jet going at speeds that I would even think reckless. She amazes us. We also thank Dr. Chuck Hamilton, Dr. Mary Hearron, Dr. Drew Murphy, Dr. Paula Wilhite, Dr. Melissa Weinbrenner and others for helping to channel this energy so that it could find such successful culmination," Dr. Andrew Yox, Honors Northeast Director, said.
Kayleah is the daughter of†Lorny Odely Cumpian†of Mount Pleasant.
