Starks, Russell named Mr., Miss SFA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

02-01-09/R. Crim-Tumelson

Starks, Russell named Mr., Miss SFA

Laterrious Starks of Cedar Hill and Molly Russell of Sweeny receive d this year’s Mr. and Miss SFA Awards on Feb. 3 at Stephen F. Austin State University. The two students were honored at halftime of the 7 p.m. men’s basketball game between  SFA and Nicholls State University in William R. Johnson Coliseum.

The Mr. SFA Award was established in honor of the late Stan McKewen, a 1934 SFA graduate. The Miss SFA Award was established in honor of Arnodean Covin, who was named Miss SFA in 1940, 1941 and 1942.

Starks, who received the Stan McKewen Mr. SFA Award, is a senior at the university and is majoring in political science. A 2006 graduate of Rowlett High School, he is the son of Rosalind Holmes of Cedar Hill and Herbert Starks of Killen.

Starks serves as vice president of the Student Government Association, he is past president of the Residence Hall Association and the Black Student Association. He serves as director of public relations for the SFA Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and is the recording secretary for the Alpha Phi Alpha national conference. Starks has been a member of the NAACP since 2008 and was a member of Driving Jacks for two years. He is also a member of the pre-law club. Starks is a senior officer in the ROTC program and has been an executive officer of the SFA Honor Guard since 2007. In 2009, he received the President’s Lifetime Volunteer Service Award for completing more than 4,000 hours of service. He was named Student Leader of the Year in 2009 by the Office of Multicultural Affairs. Starks was the SFA Homecoming king in 2009.

Russell, who received the Arnodean Covin Miss SFA Award, is a senior majoring in child and family development. A 2007 graduate of Sweeny High School, she is the daughter of Kay and Johnny Russell of Sweeny.

Russell is president of the Traditions Council and is a member of Phi Omicron Upsilon. She is a program board member for the Student Activities  Association. She served as the assistant student director of Jack Camp in 2009, was a senator for the Student Government Association in 2008 and acted as treasurer for the SFA Invisible Children chapter. Russell coordinated and facilitated homecoming activities in 2008 and 2009, and regularly serves as a nursery worker at First Baptist Church of Nacogdoches. Her list of honors includes the President’s Volunteer Service Award, a Texas Early High School Graduation Scholarship and an Academic Excellence Scholarship. Russell recently presented at the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators.

The Mr. and Miss SFA title is an award presented each year by the SFA Alumni Association to exemplary students who well represent and promote SFA. Recipients are selected based on their scholarship, participation and leadership in academic and co-curricular activities, citizenship and service and loyalty to the university. Selections are made by a committee of faculty, staff, students and alumni.

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