Epps named top VSU education/human services grad

Published 10:00 am Tuesday, June 1, 2021

VALDOSTA — Rachel Naomi Epps of Nashville is the recipient of the spring President’s Award for Academic Excellence for the James L. and Dorothy H. Dewar College of Education and Human Services at Valdosta State University.

The President’s Award for Academic Excellence is presented to the graduating student with the highest grade point average in each of VSU’s six colleges – Harley Langdale Jr. College of Business Administration, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, College of the Arts, James L. and Dorothy H. Dewar College of Education and Human Services, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and College of Science and Mathematics, university officials said in a statement.

Epps was recognized during VSU’s 231st commencement ceremony. She graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor of science in education in communication disorders.

“Receiving this honor is truly a blessing,” she said. “I am beyond thankful for the education, support and guidance provided by each and every professor I have had during my time at VSU. There are no words to express the gratitude I feel toward the VSU faculty, my classmates, my friends and my family.

“Our graduating class has made it to commencement at last, and we have all succeeded in reaching this wonderful milestone together. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that many of my peers are going to achieve brilliant things in the future. I cannot wait to see what those things are.”

As a student at VSU, Epps was a member of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association and a volunteer crisis counselor with Crisis Text Line.

Epps’ commitment to academic and service excellence resulted in her being named a Zell Miller scholar four years in a row and earning repeated dean’s list honors, the 2017-21 Chaparral Boats and Robalo Boats scholarship, the 2018-19 Sallie Hutchinson Scholarship and the 2017-18 Colquitt EMC Scholarship.

Epps plans to continue her education at VSU and pursue a master of education in communication disorders. Her goal is to become a school-based speech-language pathologist who specializes in working with children with autism and children with fluency disorders.

“I want to continue learning for the rest of my life, and my hope is to continue having educational experiences long after leaving VSU,” she added.

She is the daughter of Michelle Epps and Randall Epps.