The University of Alabama

The Cleophus Thomas Award is awarded by the the Black Faculty and Staff Association to the graduating seniors with the highest academic standing honoring the legacy of the first Black SGA president of The University of Alabama.

The purpose of Omicron Delta Kappa is to recognize those students who have attained high standards in collegiate activities, to inspire others to strive for similar attainments, and to bring together students in all areas of college life: scholarship; athletics; campus or community service; social and religious activities; campus government; journalism, speech and mass media; and creative and performing arts.

Mortar Board, a national honor society for men and women, is based on leadership, scholarship and service. It is one of the highest honors that can be granted to seniors. Members must display outstanding dedication to service and leadership.

Blue Key is a premier honor society that recognizes college students for balanced and all-around excellence in scholarship, leadership and service.

Anderson Society, a senior honorary, was founded at UA in 1975 and seeks to promote excellence in student leadership and service as well as high academic standards.

The University of Alabama recently swore in the new 2024 Student Government Association members and the following students were elected to either the Executive Council or as senators for their respective schools or colleges.

Sydney Orefice Named to the SEC Community Service Team. The senior received the honor for the second-straight year.

Enzo Aguiard Named to SEC Community Service Team. Aguiard has served as a leader for the Crimson Tide within the community.

The Capstone Men and Women for 2024-2025 have been selected and are eager to serve UA's visitors and guests as the official ambassadors of The University of Alabama. The group assists the President's Office, Office of Undergraduate Admissions and National Alumni Association in providing tours to prospective students, parents and other campus guests.

The Randall Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award Program at The University of Alabama honored 22 students from a variety of majors for their exceptional research efforts at the Capstone.

The University of Alabama's Department of Human Resources recently held its annual ceremony recognizing the Student Employee of the Year and honored the other student nominees.

Alabama Swimming and Diving has Six Named to College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team. Bernardo Bondra de Almeida, Mackenzie Brandt, Tim Korstanje, Jake Marcum, Diana Petkova and Kailyn Winter earned the honor for the Crimson Tide.

Karly Weathers Named to College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team. The sophomore earns the honor for the first time in her career.

The staircase banister in the sorority house is festooned with balloons: big ones, small ones, medium-sized ones in pink, orange, green, and blue, cascading over the sides of the rails like rainbow-colored soap bubbles. The credit for the arrangement goes to Kaelyn Perkins, a junior from Northern California who is majoring in communications and minoring in real estate at Culverhouse, and her startup, Balloons by Kae. Last January, 2023, Kaelyn was asked to take charge of decorations for a friend's birthday. The friend wanted a big backdrop-balloons, a banner, the works-so Kaelyn decided to make everything herself. She turned to YouTube, studied some tutorials, bought a lot of balloons, and created a balloon arch. "That's not bad," her friend told her. The friend suggested that Kaelyn should post her creations on Instagram and sell them, and Kaelyn did. She got three more clients in the next couple of days. Though most of her clients are other college students, she also has a relationship with a wedding planner who has helped her get balloon orders for events like baby showers and bachelorette parties. Most commonly she does backdrops for birthday parties, but she has also decorated staircases and created balloon columns. What's next? Kaelyn plans to get a membership at The Edge and enter the Edward K. Aldag, Jr. Student Business Plan Competition. "It makes me nervous," she said. "But it's also exciting and it's a good thing." If she wins, she would like to hire someone to help her with the business. And she would like to buy more balloons to keep in stock so she does not have to order for every job. Lately she has been looking at balloon businesses around the U.S. on Instagram. One woman did a huge balloon display for the Philadelphia Eagles, and Kaelyn found that inspiring. "I think it'd be so cool to do something for a sports team, maybe Alabama football," she said. For Kaelyn, starting a business is a learning process. "I really had no idea what I was doing and it was never something I planned to do," she said, "but as time goes on and you encounter different problems, you learn how to solve them, and then it helps you continue to keep growing and learning."

Dani Kanas, a thrower on UA's inaugural Para Track and Field team, became the 2024 National Champion for USA Para Track and Field in the Javelin F46 classification. She also beat her personal record of 27.59 meters.

The women's wheelchair basketball team won its fifth consecutive national championship on March 9, defeating the University of Texas at Arlington 75-57. Three athletes from this team were also chosen for Team USA's 2024 Paralympic squad.

The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program has selected three University of Alabama students as Goldwater Scholars for 2024-2025.

Graham Jones, a student at the University of Alabama has been selected to be a speaker at the NIH's All of Us Researchers Convention.

103 Alabama Student-Athletes Earn SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll Recognition. The 103 honorees marked the Tide's highest representation since 2017.

Congratulations to Manderson Case Team's Ben Heggeman, Kabria Thomas, and Tylan Farrokhnia for securing second place and $12,000 in the recent KeyBank/Ohio State University Case Competition.

Six University of Alabama students have received the Critical Language Scholarship to study overseas this summer.

The Blackburn Institute is a leadership development and civic engagement program specifically focused on improving the state of Alabama.

The Culverhouse Ambassadors are the official student representatives, tour guides, and recruitment agents for the Culverhouse College of Business.

Local students were selected to participate in the 10th cohort of Minerva, the creative concentration in advertising at The University of Alabama.

GeneHome Hub, a team of University of Alabama students Armandeep Singh, Sonam Lama, Uyen Truong and Andres Aguilar, placed third in the College/Professional division.

Alabama Gymnastics' Luisa Blanco Named 2024 AAI Award Finalist. The Crimson Tide senior was previously named a finalist for the award in 2023, which honors the most outstanding senior female gymnast in the country.

Ella Burgess Selected for 2024 SEC Community Service Team. The University of Alabama senior has recorded over 100 hours of community service this year.

Much of Taylor's service work has been through Circle K International (CKI), a collegiate service organization in which she has held several offices. In conversation, she mentions volunteer positions in CKI and other charitable organizations not as if she is bragging, but as if they are afterthoughts, interesting tidbits that didn't quite make the headline: community service chair for Manderson MBA Association; volunteer coordinator for Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry; club president for CKI, district lieutenant governor for CKI; most recently international trustee for CKI. Clearly she is driven by service, but leadership positions seem to find her on the way.

Three University of Alabama students were among 47 from around the nation selected for the prestigious Brooke Owens Fellowship, a nationally acclaimed nonprofit program that awards exceptional women and gender minorities with an internship in the fields of space and aviation.

Several University of Alabama students earned ADDY Awards for their work on multiple projects while at the Capstone in 2023. The American Advertising Federation ADDYs are the advertising industry's largest competition recognizing collegiate and professional projects on local, regional and national levels.