SAN ANGELO, Texas — Six Angelo State University graduating seniors were honored as the Class of 2021 Top Graduates and will be recognized at the May 14-15 commencement Ceremonies.
According to an ASU release, Phyllis Kate Creecy of Denton was selected to receive the school’s 2021 Presidential Award as the top graduate of her class.
Five graduating seniors were selected for the 2021 Distinguished Student Aware from their respective academic colleges.
The students were:
- Clara Aguirre, Archer College of Health and Human Services
- Crystal Mendez, College of Arts and Humanities
- Byanca Sanchez, College of Education
- Marissa Brezgiel, College of Science and Engineering
- Caylee Gibson, Norris-Vincent College of Business.
The university’s Academic Excellence Committed hosted an award ceremony on May 3 to honor the award recipients and nominees. Ronnie Hawkins Jr., ASU president, presented a recognition plaque to each person.
- Phyllis Kate Creecy of Denton - nominated by the Department of Communications and Mass Media. Creecy is a member of the AUS Honors Program and is a dual major in communication and political science with dual minors in Spanish and business administration. Following graduation, Creecy will attend law school and plans to pursue a career in law and political advocacy.
- Clara Aguirre of Refugio - nominated by the Department of Nursing. Aguirre is a nursing major with a minor in psychology. Aguirre will begin her nursing career in the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Baylor & Scott White Medical Center-Hillcrest in Waco.
- Crystal Mendez of San Angelo – nominated by the Department of English and Modern Languages. Mendez is a Central High School graduate and is a Spanish major with all-level teaching certification. Mendez plans to pursue a career teaching Spanish at the high school level following graduation.
- Byanca Sanchez of Canadian – nominated by the Department of Teacher Education. Sanchez graduated in December 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in interdisciplinary studies degree with teacher certification in early childhood through sixth grade. Sanchez currently works as a librarian at Glenmore Elementary School. She plans to move into teaching and pursue graduate studies in counseling and educational administration.
- Marissa Brezgiel of Frisco – nominated by the Department of Biology. Brezgiel is a biology major with dual minors in chemistry and business administration. She will graduate with High University Honors and will begin studies at Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine in fall 2021.
- Caylee Gibson of San Angelo – nominated by the Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance. Gibson is a Central High School graduate and is completing the five-year program to earn a Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Professional Accountancy degrees in four years while completing the honors program curriculum. She currently works in the Accounting Services Department at Oliver, Rainey & Wojtek and plans to sit for the CPA and CFP exams and eventually pursue a career in financial planning.
Additional award nominees included:
- Lauren Brooks of Liberty Hill – nominated by the Department of Psychology and Sociology. Brooks is a double major in psychology and exercise science. She plans to enter ASU’s Master of Science in Counseling Psychology degree program in fall 2021.
- Cheyenne Hibbitts of Brackettville – nominated by the Department of Physics and Geosciences. Hibbits is a geoscience major and member of the ASU Honors Program. She will pursue a Ph.D. in earth and environmental sciences at Michigan State University.
- Tyler Kornegay of George West - nominated by the David L. Hirschfeld Department of Engineering. Kornegay earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering (B.S.C.E.) degree in December 2020 and is pursuing a graduate degree in engineering at Texas A&M University.
- Taylor Parmer of Iraan – nominated by Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Parmer is a chemistry major and will begin the Master of Science in the forensic science program at Sam Houston University in fall 2021.
- Taylor Tomlinson of Christoval – nominated by the Department of Management and Marketing. Tomlinson is a marketing major and plans to enter ASU’s Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree program in fall 2021.
