(l to r) Tierney Jordan, Karen Ann Martin, Tamika Douglas, Chassidy Grimes, Bria Danielle Sharp, Karen Merriweather, Alicia Rogers, Kiera Crutcher
BSA BANQUET HONORS OUTSTANDING UTHSC STUDENTS Written by Peggy Reisser
KAREN ANN MARTIN
The Black Student Association (BSA) at UTHSC honored eight outstanding students Friday evening at its Annual Awards & Recognition Banquet.
College of Graduate Health Sciences Growing up in Jamaica, Martin earned a teaching diploma and worked as a teacher for three years before completing her BSc and MSc degrees in communication disorders at Western Carolina University. As a Speech and Hearing Science PhD student, Martin has completed three research projects and is working on her dissertation. Martin has presented her research in conferences throughout the country, including to the American Auditory Society, the CI Crash Conference, the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, the American Speech-Language Hearing Association, and the American Academy of Audiology. In addition to her research, Martin serves as a course instructor for undergraduate students and works part time as a clinician.
Held in the OD Larry Dining Hall of the Student-Alumni Center, the banquet included a keynote address by Judy C. Martin, PhD, FNP-BC, chief nursing officer for the Shelby County Health Department since 2003. Dr. Martin received her PhD from the UTHSC College Nursing, and is the first African American to earn a PhD in nursing from a Tennessee university. Students honored were nominated by their colleges for scholarship, leadership, and community service. They are:
KAREN MERRIWEATHER College of Dentistry
Merriweather has been recognized with several scholarships from the College of Dentistry. She is an active mentor for Tennessee Institute for Pre-Professionals (TIP), which works with prospective health science students. She is certified in a formal training in poverty medicine called Serving the Underserved. Recently, Merriweather was a volunteer in the Mid-South Mission of Mercy, and is an active member of the American Student Dental Association, the American Dental Education Association, the secretary of the Student National Dental Association, the D4 representative of the American Association for Women Dentists, a Spanish tutor for the Hispanic Student Dental Association, and president of the Black Student Association.
KIERA CRUTCHER
College of Health Professions Crutcher has served as the president of the Pi Theta Epsilon, Delta Zeta Chapter, Occupational Therapy Honor Society. She completed the Serving the Underserved poverty medicine training program. Crutcher has excelled in her fieldwork placements at Eastern Louisiana Mental Health System in Jackson, Mississippi, and Southern Hand Centers in Memphis. She has been described by her fieldwork educators as “a joy to supervise,� and as a student who demonstrates outstanding professionalism and initiative. 5
Continued