Student Leader of the Month

Nominated by Elizabeth Harrison "Idris exuded leadership auras from the moment we met when he started his degree in 2021. He is always thinking of ways we could do more for international students and improve their quality of life and experiences at APSU. He has networked to help students find internships, participated in international student organization - became its president in 2022, actually, organized events for students, and brought his network together to organize a Welcome Committee, Entry advisory Committee, Soccer Day, and many other events. Additionally, he earned a sustainability award for presenting in Arizona at a Greentech conference during his first year of Master's study and took a leadership role in the new Sustainability club on campus. He does all of this while also taking time to do his best and maintain his role as a graduate teaching assitant, support his family, and maintain a high GPA. He is an excellent candidate for this honor."

Nominated by Dr. Timothy Winters for his leadership on campus: "Mackenzie exemplifies the spirit of servant leadership. She is humble to a fault. When she takes on a job, she does it full throttle. One example from HPC: I asked that she take over coordinating our weekly Wednesday speaker series in which faculty and staff come to the Commons for lunchtime talks. She quickly set up an electronic submission form, had an email sent out to all fac/staff, filtered the over 30 responses she received, set up a schedule, and notified all speakers, all within a little over a week!! This is typical of how Mackenzie works. She is just amazing. She also organized a collection of school supplies etc. for families in Ukraine, and she has helped with countless activities in the Honors Commons. Mackenzie is always ready to help with anything that needs to be done."

Nominated by Victor Felts "Mason most recently served as the director of the Miss Austin Peay Scholarship Pageant. Not only did he meet expectations, he went above-and-beyond to ensure a successful event. This is a nine month leadership position that involves recruiting contestants, selling tickets, selling advertisements for the program booklet, raising funds through other means, and overseeing a committee of other student leaders. Mason approached each of these tasks with a positive attitude and enthusiasm. In addition to performing his assigned duties, he chose to attend interest meetings and rehearsals as well as help me encourage the contestants when they were having second thoughts about participating in the pageant. He was a strong leader within his fraternity; ensuring members were selling tickets, manning the People's Choice Award table in the MUC everyday during pageant week, and arriving on time and dressed nicely the night of the pageant. He helped ensure a sense of ownership within the pageant for the fraternity members; something that has been missing in the past. It is because of his buy-in to the pageant and this leadership position that he was an extraordinary student director. For the first time in 13 years, I felt confident that if I were not able to attend the pageant, Mason would be able to successfully execute it in my absence. It is for these reasons Mason Walker is deserving of student leader of the month for October."

Nominated by Kaitie McKinney "Everything Makenzie, or some may know her by Mak, does in her life is to better and support those around her. Whether that be friends, family, organizations, the city, you name it. She is a one of a kind leader and inspiration. Makenzie has been awarded Chapter President of the Year twice and led the Lambda Iota Chapter of Sigma Kappa through the pandemic gracefully and loyally, earning us the Rising Star award. She is now President of National Society of Leadership and Success, Treasurer of ODK, as well as Vice President of the Student Organization Council. I am nominating and recognizing Makenzie Ross as Student Leader of the Month due to watching her grow in Greek Life, on campus at Austin Peay State University as well as in our surrounding areas! Makenzie makes this world a better and brighter place, and I’m thankful to have an amazing leader to look up to in her."

Nominated by MaryGrace Johnson "Kennedy has led by example this semester as the Executive Vice President of GPC. She consistantly implemented successful programs through her dedication to preparation, her enthusiasm for creating community and grit. Kennedy filled in for all 4 of the vacant programming positions in GPC this semester and took on a team's worth of work without hesitation. She has proven that she is a committed to this organization by stepping in when her team needed her most. She has solved each problem that has dared cross her path with confidence and intentionality. Kennedy has truely exceeded my expectations and proven that she will follow through when she says she wil complete a task and it will be done well. I could not be more thankful to have Kennedy lead GPC as Madam President of GPC next year!"

Nominated by Dean Singleton "Tyler currently serves as the president of Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honorary. In addition, he has served as Vice President for Recruitment for Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, a senior Peer Leader for our peer leader program on campus and is one of the top cadets nationally within the ROTC program on campus. Tyler is known by his peers as a role model; an exceptional leader; someone who is trustworthy, dedicated, loyal, and a true Governor. He was also named as the 2022 Homecoming King due to his leadership and service to the University. Of all the student leaders that I have worked with over the years, Tyler stands out as one of the best. He is a wonderful example of the caliber of leader we seek to recognize with the Student Leader of the Month Award. Additionally, he has been selected as APSU's ODK Leader of the Year for his work with our ODK Circle and his work this past summer at the ODK National Leadership Conference."