“Renaissance” Student is Salutatorian for Class of 2009
at Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus
Soccer injury halts sports career, but not academic success for scholar-athlete from Colorado

Brooklyn, N.Y. – When Whitney Collins-Cephers enrolled at Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus on a soccer scholarship, she expected to continue the highly successful athletic career she had already begun in her hometown of Aurora, Colorado. Life abruptly shifted course, however. A head injury suffered in her freshman season derailed her goals in competitive sports. A serious and disappointing setback, it did not snuff out her drive and determination.

“It was very unfortunate, but I looked at it as an opportunity to open up to other experiences,” said the former midfielder-forward. , who is a major in journalism and a minor in media arts. She stepped up her involvement at the Brooklyn Campus, immersing herself in diverse activities and in her studies.

Her can-do attitude has paid off. Ms. Collins-Cephers will graduate with a grade-point average of 3.92. Her outstanding academic accomplishments have earned her the distinction of being named this year’s Salutatorian at the Brooklyn Campus, where she will be among nearly 1,900 graduating students at commencement exercises on Thursday, May 14. “Whitney is a ‘Renaissance’ student,” declared journalism Professor Ralph Engelman. “A scholar-athlete, an honors student, a superb writer who is full of intellectual curiosity, she took full advantage of all that the Brooklyn Campus has to offer,” he said. “She’s unstoppable!”

Along with a heavy course load, Ms. Collins-Cephers has completed numerous internships, including a stint at MTV Networks and work as a broadcast-production intern at the communications firm, Hill Holliday, which has offices in New York, Boston and South Carolina. She has mentored other students; has served as president of her Residence Hall Council; has been active with the student newspaper, Seawanhaka; and has been a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the oldest Greek-letter organization established by African-American women. She also spent a semester abroad studying with the University’s Global College in Costa Rica and has taught English to children in Nicaragua. “In that impoverished region,” she recounted, “I learned that happiness comes from within and not from material possessions.”

Among the many awards Ms. Collins-Cephers has received are the American Advertising Federation’s Most Promising Minority Student Award and the Paula M. Cooper Award for Character and Citizenship. She also has been inducted into the Alpha Lambda Delta Honors Society and into Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges.

This summer, she will be among 35 students selected for a prestigious internship at BBDO Worldwide, the international advertising giant. In the fall, she will begin to pursue a graduate degree in media arts at the Brooklyn Campus. “I sense that I’ve found a home here,” said Ms. Collins-Cephers, “There’s very much a family feeling at the Campus.”

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Posted: May 6, 2009