Belltower under cloudy skies.

Each Spring, Multicultural Student Affairs hosts Freshman Honors Convocation, a ceremony that recognizes the collective and individual achievements of our multicultural students. Any African American, Native American, or Latino first-year student receiving a GPA of 3.0 or higher is honored.  In addition to recognizing students, our office also honors the colleges with fifty percent or more of their multicultural first-year students earning a 3.0 GPA or greater.  The colleges honored this year were the Colleges of Education (82%), Natural Resources (73%), Engineering (70%), Design (69%), Management (69%), Textiles (67%), Sciences (61%), Humanities and Social Sciences (56%) and Exploratory Studies (52%). In addition to the presence and participation of each college’s upper-level administration including the dean, associate dean, assistant dean, or director, Freshman Honors Convocation is also a time when our NC State parents join us in celebrating the academic achievements of their students.

In keeping with our mission to serve NC State’s multicultural students and to create programs that will enhance the campus community’s knowledge of diversity, each year we highlight a different culture by celebrating the culture of one of the student groups that we serve. At this year’s ceremony, held on February 5, 2016, Latino culture was emphasized. Jorge Pacheco, president of Mi Familia, delivered remarks, the Latin dance team Sube Ritmo performed and Dr. Andrea Hernandez Duhon delivered the keynote address.

Dr. Duhon, a 2005 NC State alumnus, obtained Bachelor of Science degrees in Mathematics and Mathematics Education and was an active member of the multicultural community, co-founding organizations such as Mi Familia, La Raza de Mil Colores, The Rho Chapter of Latinas Promoviendo Comunidad and Lambda Pi Chi Sorority, Inc.  She was the First Latina to win Leader of the Pack as well as the first Latina in the College of PAMS to be inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. After graduating from NC State, Dr. Duhon was awarded the Math for America Newton Fellowship to attend New York University, where she obtained a Master of Arts in Mathematics Education in 2006. During her time at NYU, Dr. Duhon began her research interest in Mathematics language acquisition among Latino Students. She continued her studies at Columbia University, where she earned a Master of Philosophy and then a Ph.D. in Mathematics Education. She is currently an associate professor of mathematics at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia.

Multicultural Student Affairs is proud to serve such a diverse set of students who are committed to both cultural expression and academic excellence!

Brittany Hunt is assistant director for Native American Student Affairs.