UCF has a new showcase for students whose academic achievement and excellence have earned national and international recognition.
The Acclaimed Knights Wall outside the Pegasus Ballroom of the Student Union features names of students who have earned prestigious awards and fellowships.
Among others, those honors include Fulbright Scholar, Truman Scholar, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, Boren Award, Astronaut Scholar and Goldwater Scholar.
The wall highlights awards of current and past students, including Tyler Fisher, who became UCF’s first Rhodes Scholar in 2002. He earned his doctorate at Oxford University and has returned to UCF as an associate professor in modern languages and literature.
At the wall’s unveiling on Sept. 11, Fisher described the wall as “at once memorializing and motivating.”
Winners of prestigious fellowships can receive more than $100,000 in scholarships for life-changing opportunities in research, study abroad or graduate studies. The awards also distinguish UCF for excellence and factor into university rankings on national lists.
Elizabeth A. Dooley, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, said the wall also represents the proud results of faculty members, who energize students and inspire them to dream big and achieve.
Elizabeth A. Dooley, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, said the wall also represents the proud results of faculty members, who energize students and inspire them to dream big and achieve.
“When our students and faculty engage with one another, I believe no award, honor or recognition is beyond their reach,” Dooley says. “To all our students here today, there are blank spaces on this wall. Those spaces await your name.”
The idea for the wall originated from Dean Sheila Amin Gutiérrez de Piñeres of the Burnett Honors College. She wanted a permanent tribute to the continued excellence of UCF’s students.
The wall resulted at the Student Union through the joint efforts of the Burnett Honors College, Office of the President, UCF Communications and Marketing, Office of Research and Graduate Studies, and the Student Union.
“I hope people will see my name on the wall and know it’s not impossible to get a prestigious award,” says George Walters-Marrah, one of the names on the Acclaimed Knights Wall.
Walters-Marrah, a senior biotechnology and molecular microbiology major, earned a 2018 Goldwater Scholarship, which recognizes exceptional research by undergraduate sophomores and juniors in natural sciences, engineering and mathematics.
“I don’t see myself as anything different from my friends.,” he says. “I hope people will see that if you work hard and put in the work you can be rewarded for that work. I want people to look at the names on this wall and say, ‘If they can do that, I can also do that.’ ”
Knights interested in pursuing prestigious awards should visit the UCF Office of Prestigious Awards.
