SUNY Potsdam Student Charon Brabham Honored with 2014 Chancellor's Award

2014 Apr 23

Charon Brabham was among three outstanding SUNY Potsdam students who were recently honored with the 2014 Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence. Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher presented the awards to students from across the SUNY system in a ceremony held in Albany.

ChaRon Brabham is a senior theatre major originally from Brooklyn, N.Y., who now resides in Holly Hill, S.C. She was seen by millions of people worldwide as an Oscar presenter at the 2013 Academy Awards, after winning the Oscar Experience College Search. At SUNY Potsdam, she has served as the captain of the Team NV dance troupe, as vice president of the Black Student Alliance, as an academic peer mentor, writing center tutor and an admissions ambassador. Her theatre credits include directing a short film and one act plays, stage managing the College's Student Choreography Concert and serving as the assistant director for a main stage play. She is currently completing a multimedia internship with the Office of Public Affairs. Following graduation, Brabham plans to enter the entertainment and film industry and hopes to move to Los Angeles to pursue her passion for directing.

"It was an absolutely phenomenal feeling to be recognized by SUNY as a student of excellence. This award confirmed that my hard work and dedication will never go unnoticed, as long as I put my everything into my work," she said.

The Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence was created in 1997 to honor students who excel academically and show involvement in leadership roles, athletics, community service, creative and performing arts, campus involvement, or career achievement.

Each year, campus presidents establish a selection committee, which reviews exemplary students. Nominees are then forwarded to the Chancellor's Office and are subject to a second round of review. Finalists are then recommended to the Chancellor to become recipients of the award. Each recipient receives a framed certificate and medallion, which is traditionally worn at commencement.

For more information about SUNY Potsdam's remarkable students, visit http://www.potsdam.edu.