SU nursing professor receives Excellence in Teaching Award Southern University Baton Rouge’s Wanda Spurlock received the 2014 Helen Johnson Cremeens Excellence in Teaching Award presented by the Baton Rouge District Nurses Association on May 5, 2014, at the 25th Anniversary Celebrate Nursing Banquet in Baton Rouge. Spurlock has been a nurse educator in the College of Nursing and Allied Health for 20 years and has been recognized as an “Excellence in Care Specialist” by the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. As a nurse educator, Spurlock said her responsibility is to help shape future generations of registered nurses and advance the nursing profession. Spurlock is certified by the National League of Nursing as an academic nurse educator and holds board certifications through the American Nurses Credentialing Center in both psychiatric and mental health nursing and gerontological nursing. In 2013, Louisiana Life Magazine recognized Spurlock as one of eight Louisianans of the Year. The Helen Johnson Cremeens Excellence in Teaching Award is named in honor of the late nursing educator Helen Johnson Cremeens, the wife of the late local TV newscaster Carleton Cremeens. He established the award to honor his wife’s love for nursing and her career as a nurse educator.
SU’s LSBDC wins service excellence, innovation center award The Louisiana Small Business Development Center at Southern University received the “Small Business Development Center Service Excellence and Innovation Center Award” by the United States Small Business Administration’s Louisiana District Office. Small businesses across Louisiana were recognized during National Small Business Week (May 12-16, 2014) and honored at an event May 14, 2014, at the Governor’s Mansion. This year’s winners represent a wide range of industries and come from areas across Louisiana, according to a press release by the SBA. The award, said William Campbell, director of the LSBDC at SU, means “that we surpassed all LSBDC Centers Performance in the entire network in counseling, capital infusion and job creation. It means we are building innovative programs for small businesses to grow and develop.” “What our LSBDC team has accomplished in three years has never been accomplished,” he said.“This is a team committed to transformation. It also means a win in the vision to transform Southern University.” A client of the LSBDC at SU, Mitch Rotolo, founder and CEO of Rotolo’s Pizzeria, received “Runner-Up to Family-Owned Business Champion.” “We are creating champions in the business community who will be creating new jobs to grow a diverse Louisiana economy,” Campbell said proudly of the recognition won by LSBDC’s client. (See cover story, page 26)
SU NROTC officer instructor named NSTC Marine of the Year U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Kabiru M. Labaran was selected as the 2013 Naval Service Training Command (NSTC) Marine of the Year (MOY) in an announcement made April 15, 2014. Labaran, 34, from Chicago, Illinois, is presently assigned as a Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) assistant marine officer instructor (AMOI) of the Southern University and A&M College consortium in Baton Rouge. The consortium also includes Baton Rouge Community College, Louisiana State University, and Southeastern Louisiana University. Labaran, who was selected over 68 AMOIs in NROTC, has been in the Marine Corps for more than 15 years. He was selected for AMOI-duty in 2011 and was assigned as a sergeant instructor at Marine Officer Candidate School (OCS) in Quantico, Virginia. After completing two successful training increments at Quantico, Labaran was assigned to the NROTC unit at Southern University. As an AMOI, Labaran assists Captain Daniel Struzik, the unit marine officer instructor (MOI), in mentoring the unit’s midshipmen, in particular those designated to become Marine Corps officers. He also handles a lot of the physical fitness and drill instruction for the consortium. Southern University
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