April 13, 2012

OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss softball players Corrine Doornberg and Amanda Hutcheson and women’s tennis player Gabby Rangel were among 64 students honored with a Taylor Medal at the annual Honors Convocation Thursday night at the Ford Center for Performing Arts.

The Taylor Medal is the highest academic honor a student can receive at the University of Mississippi.    Rangel received a Taylor Medal in the College of Liberal Arts, Doornberg received hers from the School of Engineering and Hutcheson earned hers from the School of Applied Sciences.

“To have three student-athletes among 64 at the University receive the highest academic award on campus, shows the commitment by our student-athletes to the student side of their careers,” said Executive Associate Athletics Director Lynnette Johnson.  These women have been excellent on and off the field/court and obviously set the tone for their individual teams with their high level of academic accomplishments.”

The Taylor Medal recognizes outstanding academic performance and is given to no more than one percent of the student body. To be considered, a student must have a grade-point average of at least a 3.90.

Rangel, of Hendersonville, Tenn., boasts a 3.94 GPA in international studies-economics.  She has helped lead the Rebels to a No. 16 national ranking and a top-four finish in the SEC.  A three-time ITA Scholar-Athlete, Rangel was a recent finalist for the SEC Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Postgraduate Scholarship.

Doornberg, a native of Langley, British Columbia, owns a 3.93 GPA in civil engineering and is a member of the Honors College.  She is a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll. Doornberg, who earned SEC All-Freshman Team honors in 2009, is currently batting .336 for the Rebels, who host Mississippi State in a three-game series this weekend.

Hutcheson, who hails from Loganville, Ga., holds a 3.94 GPA in exercise science.  She was named a National Fastpitch Coaches Association Scholar-Athlete, is a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and was a recent finalist for the SEC Brad Davis Community Service Postgraduate Scholarship.

Former three-year track and field member, Ellen Karp, also earned a Taylor Medal from the School of Business Administration.

The Taylor Memorial was founded by William A. Taylor in June 1904. He founded the award in memory of his son, Marcus Elvis Taylor, an honored alumnus of the class of 1871, and out of benevolent regard and good will for the youth of the state and the interest and the work of the University of Mississippi, and for the encouragement of meritorious scholarship deportment.

The Taylor Memorial, as well as the other awards presented to the students, is chosen by a committee of faculty and staff members.