Graduates celebrate heritage and success

Family and friends gathered at NAU’s recent heritage convocations to celebrate achievements. 
Here are some highlights:

A ceremony presenting the Black Convocation Committee Recognition Awards and Kente stoles—cultural recognition sashes—took place at the du Bois Center Ballroom on April 18. Back row from left, Joy Taylor, Paris Nixon, Megan Reid, Jasmine Rogers, Tyler Posten, Anthony Burton and Jessica Shipley. Front row from left, Stephen Glaze, Ellison McKnight III, Nizhoni Smocks, Amadou Bako and Kevin Chase. McKnight and Smocks received a Dr. Theodore Johnson Outstanding Senior Award.

During the Hispanic Convocation on May 7 in the du Bois Center Ballroom, the first President’s Lumberjack Alumni Award was awarded to NAU alumnus Ernest Calderón, the newly elected president of the Arizona Board of Regents. The award honors an individual who exhibits the characteristics of the traditional lumberjack: dedicated, skillful, hard-working, alert and fast-thinking, and who demonstrates a commitment to the university, recognizes the value of an NAU education and is active in his or her community and profession.