Two members of the Randolph-Macon College community were recently awarded the Higgins Academic Center’s 2019-2020 Outstanding New Student Advocate Award. The award honors faculty and staff who provide exceptional guidance and encouragement to new students during their all-important first semester.

Physics/Engineering Professor Jim McLeskey Jr. and Campus Store Manager Barclay DuPriest were each presented the award by Higgins Academic Center (HAC) executive director, Professor Seth Clabough ’98, and Annie Keith ’01, director of the HAC’s Office of New Student Orientation & Transitions.

A Student-generated Award
The HAC solicited nominations from all new students and New Student Orientation & Transitions Captains (current students who orient and help new students navigate college life).

Students expressed how McLeskey and DuPriest supported them in their first year of college:

“Dr. McLeskey has always been encouraging and helpful. He has been able to provide me with opportunities like research that have been super helpful in making me feel included and providing me with skills that allow me to feel more confident moving forward,” said one student.

Another student wrote, “As both of my parents went to RMC, I have known Barclay since I was a little girl. When I told her that I was going to be a student at RMC, she immediately told me how excited she was. Every time I saw Barclay, she made sure to talk to me and check in to see how I was doing. I definitely could not have gotten through my freshman year without knowing that Barclay was there for me all the time.”

The Honorees
McLeskey says, “I am deeply humbled and honored to receive this award—particularly since the nominations were made by students. I chose to come to Randolph-Macon five years ago because undergraduate education and the student experience are the number one priority of all faculty and staff at the college, and I am privileged to be a member of this wonderful community of educators.”

DuPriest says, “I am so honored to receive this wonderful award, but I am only one of hundreds of members of our RMC community who deserve recognition for their never-ending efforts to support our students. Even though it was during a Zoom meeting, it was so special to have Seth Clabough and Annie Keith present this award, because I could look at their faces on my monitor and fondly remember when they were freshmen back in the 1990s.”

The Higgins Academic Center
Even with classes held virtually, the HAC continues to offer resources and programming to help students succeed academically. The HAC is home to the Communication Center, and the offices of Disability Services, Academic Advising, New Student Orientation & Transitions, and Subject Tutoring & Learning Support.

“One of the nice things about this award,” Clabough says, “is that it is entirely student driven.  These are the members of our RMC community that our students chose to hold up during this challenging, unprecedented year as those who provided them with essential guidance and support and made their first year at RMC so meaningful.  It is an honor for Director Keith and I to be able to recognize this important behind-the-scenes work of faculty and staff that helps to create that special, signature experience for our new students.”