St Lucian students excel at Midwestern State

These St Lucian graduates received top honours at their university graduation.

St Lucian students were a major sensation at Midwestern State University’s December commencement ceremony last Saturday as they captured two of the six highest awards at the university. The three St Lucian graduates were among the 15 from the Caribbean and over 400 at the university to earn degrees.

Antonia Bernadette Laurent-Goodman earned her master’s degree in education with a specialization in mathematics curriculum development. Goodman is one of the few female graduates who specialized in mathematics in the curriculum field.

The undergraduates, however, were the belles of the ball. Both Shivel Burnett and Celeste Stava earned the President’s Medal of Excellence as the top graduates in their colleges.
Burnett earned a bachelor of radiologic science degree with summa cum laude honors and a 3.91 GPA in addition to the president’s medal. She is from East Castries and a graduate of St Joseph’s Convent and the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College.

Stava earned a bachelor’s of arts degree with a double major in psychology and Spanish. She also has summa cum laude honors and maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA. She also completed her degree in 2.5 years.

Burnett and Stava brought the number of President’s Medal winners from St Lucia to six. Stava was the third to earn the award with a perfect GPA.

“Caribbean students continue to be our academic jewels,” said Dr Robert Clark, school vice president. “This outstanding achievement by St Lucian students has become an expected phenomenon here. We continue to hold the Caribbean program as one of our high points.”

Over 60 St Lucian students have earned degrees from Midwestern since 1998 and fifteen students are currently enrolled. St Lucian graduates of the university will be conducting a seminar for prospective students in December.

Fifteen new students from St Lucia will be accepted to Midwestern State University in August 2010, and will be part of the
almost 1000 Caribbean students who have been recruited in the 16 year history of the program. The Government of St Lucia is currently in the process of formally establishing the program.