2021 Outstanding ALUMNI AWARDS Georgia Southwestern honored outstanding alumni and inducted one former athlete into the GSW Athletics Hall of Fame at the 5th Annual Outstanding Alumni Awards Banquet on March 13, 2021.
The Roderick Family 2021 Family Legacy Award
With two generations, four family members and four degrees between them, the Roderick family is no stranger to GSW. Their contributions to athletics, academic achievements, and to the work of the Foundation span a number of years. Randy Roderick (far left), the patriarch of “Team Roderick” played basketball for GSW, graduating in 1981 along with his wife Debbie Roderick (not pictured). Their son Richard “Ric” Roderick (third from left) followed in his father’s footsteps and played collegiate basketball for the Hurricanes for four years, graduating in 2010 with a business degree. He was a member of Kappa Sigma. Ric’s wife Shelley Tondee Roderick (far right) grew up in nearby Ellaville and also graduated from GSW in 2010 with a business degree. Shelley was a member of Kappa Delta. The Roderick family founded The Roderick Group in Statesboro, Ga., where they have consistently ranked in the top of all Herff Jones dealers in the country. Herff Jones is a company that manufactures and sells educational recognition and achievement products including caps and gowns, class rings and much more. hrough their success, the Rodericks volunteer with and support many local charities and give back to numerous communities throughout Georgia. GSW has also been the recipient of their generosity with investment into the athletic department and the GSW Foundation.
Jaha Dukureh, ’15 2021 Visionary Award
While leading the fight against female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage in her home county of The Gambia in West Africa, Dukureh was simultaneously earning her bachelor’s degree in business administration and management online at GSW. She graduated in 2015, the same year she founded the non-profit organization Safe Hands for Girls. By age 25, Dukureh’s activism earned her a place on Time Magazine’s 2016 list of 100 Most Influential People in the World. She won the Humanitarian of the Year award at the African Diaspora Awards and was named the first Regional Goodwill Ambassador for Africa by UN Women in February 2018. Her nomination for the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize brought the FGM movement to the forefront.
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