The Jane Stephens Honors Program at Southeast Missouri State University honored one student and one faculty member with an award entitled the “Exempli Gratia” for the 2015-2016 academic year.

The Exempli Gratia awards were given at the honors program’s end of the year banquet, which took place at 6 p.m. May 3 in the University Center Ballroom. Criteria for the award were based upon the student and faculty member’s activeness in the honors program and who were believed to set the best examples for their colleagues through exceptional workmanship, academic performance and teaching standards.

The awards were presented to Lydia Cameron, sophomore communication disorders major, and Dr. Bambi Robinson, faculty member in the Department of Political Science, Philosophy and Religion. Dr. Kevin Dickson, director of the Jane Stephens Honors Program, was the presenter at the ceremony and said it was an honor to give the rewards to Cameron and Robinson because of how deserving they both were.

“I am very grateful for the opportunity to present these awards, because these are people who give a lot of time and energy to the program,” Dickson said. “The Jane Stephens Honors Program has some of the best faculty and students to work with, and they truly are some of the jewels on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University.”

Cameron said her incentive to be active within the honors program is due to the appreciation she has for what the program has done for her career at Southeast.

“Exempli Gratia is a peer nominated and selected award, so being chosen was incredibly meaningful to me,” Cameron said. “I have worked very hard to try and help improve the honors program through my work with the Honors Council. The program has given me so much, so I just want to give back. I do not do it to be recognized, but knowing that people are seeing my efforts is really encouraging.”

Cameron served as the historian on the Honors Council this year. She said in the future, she aspires to continue taking advantage of the opportunities within the honors program.

“I am surrounded by so many great, inspiring students in this program who constantly push me to improve, both as a student and as a person,” Cameron said. “I think that being in the honors program has contributed to any and everything that I have achieved at Southeast.”

The goal of the Jane Stephens Honors Program is to address the needs of outstanding students, contribute to the advancement of learning and encourage intellectual gains. To find out more about the program, contact honors@semo.edu.