Governor Rauner announces top students to be honored by the Lincoln Academy of Illinois
Lincoln College student Cody Garretson of New Holland among the honorees

[November 06, 2015]  SPRINGFIELD – Governor Bruce Rauner today announced this year’s outstanding college students who will be honored by the Lincoln Academy of Illinois. The Academy will recognize the following students during the annual Student Laureate Convocation at 11 a.m. Saturday, November 7 at the Old State Capitol in Springfield.

“Civic engagement, as exemplified by President Lincoln, is crucial to our democracy and the process of our government,” said Governor Rauner. “The young men and women receiving this recognition today embody the spirit of President Lincoln through their hard work and dedication to their schools and communities.”

The Lincoln Academy’s Abraham Lincoln Civic Engagement Awards are presented for excellence in curricular and extracurricular activities to seniors from each of the state’s four-year, degree-granting colleges and universities, and one student from the community colleges in Illinois. At the Student Laureate Convocation, each student will receive a Student Laureate Medallion, along with a $1,000 educational grant and a certificate of achievement. This is the 41st year Lincoln Academy has celebrated students’ excellence in Illinois.

Student Laureate Cynthia J. Avila of the University of Chicago will speak on behalf of all the Laureates. The invocation will be delivered by Dr. Stanley R. Liberty, Interim President of Bradley University, and the benediction will be delivered by Eureka College President J. David Arnold. The Sangamon Woodwind Consort will provide music, and a luncheon at the Abraham Lincoln Hotel will follow the Student Laureate Convocation.

The Lincoln Academy, unique among the 50 states, was established more than 50 years ago to honor distinguished citizens with the state’s highest award, the Order of Lincoln. The 52nd Annual Convocation and Investiture of Laureates of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois will take place Saturday, May 7, 2016 at the historic Marriott Pere Marquette Hotel in Peoria.

Among those on the list to be honored November 7th is Cody R. Garretson of New Holland.  Garretson is a student at Lincoln College in Lincoln.

Click here for complete list of Student Laureates

[Office of the Governor Bruce Rauner]