Staples to be awarded USI President’s Medal at Spring 2023 Commencement Ceremonies

Savannah M. Staples, who will graduate summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in English teaching and minors in secondary education licensure and psychology, has been named the recipient of the President’s Medal, the highest honor bestowed to a graduate in the Class of 2023.

An avid volunteer, a recipient of the Sherrianne Standley Service Award, and the Indiana Association of Colleges for Teacher Education Outstanding Future Educator Award winner, Staples is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion in and beyond the classroom.

During her time at USI, she has been extensively involved in the Honors Program. During her senior year, Staples served as the Honors Program Co-Service Chair, planning several service events including “After School @ USI” and “Service Saturday at Posey Humane Society (PHS).”

Staples brought junior high students from the Dream Center—an after-school program serving underprivileged students—to campus for “After School @ USI,” exposing them to the benefits of higher education. At “Service Saturday at PHS,” she volunteered alongside 22 USI Honors students. Additionally, she has served as an Honors Program mentor and Honors Living Learning Community member.

At the start of her senior year, Staples represented USI internationally as one of the first students to study abroad post-pandemic. As a USI Global Engagement Scholar, she studied diversity and representation trends in children’s literature in Dublin, Ireland, during the 2022 Summer Semester. Staples presented her vast findings at the Global Engagement Research Forum during the 2022-23 academic year, allowing her to establish a strong foundation as a social justice orientated educator for her future students.

For her 2022 Fall Semester Honors Capstone project, she tirelessly researched how racism, gender discrimination, and classism affect secondary schools, providing recommendations from her research to school administrators, teachers and education students. Her research was also presented at the USI Honors Symposium during the 2022 Fall Semester.

Staples, who served as a Study Abroad Ambassador and an Emerging Leader, has volunteered countless hours tutoring K-12 students in the Evansville community and has worked with young writers in her hometown public library system, helping them become more confident in their writing abilities.

Those who recommend her note her passion for lifelong learning, dedication to service and humble leadership style. Staples serves as a role model for how to act in the classroom, both as a fellow student and as a future educator determined to make a difference.

Following her graduation, she will continue to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in education by teaching high school English at a local public school. Staples expresses great appreciation for her Honors Program Co-Service chair, Kinley Day, the Honors Program team and all her influential professors in the USI English and Teacher Education departments.

Other finalists for the President’s Medal from the Class of 2023 included Hortensia M. Almanza Guizado, Molly E. Donoho and Sarah E. Fruit. The Student Affairs Committee of Faculty Senate annually selects the recipient of the President’s Medal.