May 4, 2024
few clouds Clouds 65 °F

Awards brunch recognizes EOP students graduating this year

Karima Legette, director of the Educational Opportunity Program, named Nia Johnson as the 2023 EOP Class Representative during the EOP Senior Recognition Brunch and Awards Ceremony. Karima Legette, director of the Educational Opportunity Program, named Nia Johnson as the 2023 EOP Class Representative during the EOP Senior Recognition Brunch and Awards Ceremony.
Karima Legette, director of the Educational Opportunity Program, named Nia Johnson as the 2023 EOP Class Representative during the EOP Senior Recognition Brunch and Awards Ceremony. Image Credit: Jonathan Cohen.
March 29, 2023

Binghamton University administrators, staff and faculty gathered at the Chenango Champlain Collegiate Center Saturday, March 18, to celebrate with over 90 senior students in the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) who are set to graduate in May, August or December this year. The annual EOP Senior Recognition Brunch and Awards Ceremony acknowledges the persistence and hard work the students have exhibited, bringing them successfully to the end of their undergraduate careers — despite the adversity they face — and ready to embark on their next step. It’s also an opportunity to present awards and graduation gifts.

Held in person for the first time since spring 2019, the EOP Senior Brunch was a festive occasion complete with food, remarks from President Harvey Stenger, special guests representing each college and an awards presentation led by EOP Director Karima Legette and the EOP staff.

Student Association (SA) president and graduating senior Nia Johnson was named 2023 EOP Class Representative and delivered a heartfelt message to her peers, especially her 2019 Binghamton Enrichment Program summer cohort.

Johnson, a human development major and education minor, is the fourth EOP student to serve as SA president and the first woman to be elected to the office. She is passionate about educational policy in urban schools, which fueled her involvement with the Juvenile Urban Multicultural Program (JUMP), where she has worked to decrease urban high school dropout rates and increase enrollment in higher education among historically underrepresented populations. She is also the head office director for the Student Association’s vice president of multicultural affairs and a residential assistant.

The Distinguished Student Award, which is the highest honor bestowed upon an EOP senior, honors superior merit, outstanding academic achievement and dedicated campus engagement. This year the award was presented to Kevin Carchipulla Jimbo.

Jimbo (pronounced Heem-bo), a double major in nursing and biology, is a Bartle Library undergraduate circulation assistant, resident assistant and a former student representative on the EOP Faculty and Staff Advisory Committee. Jimbo’s exemplifies dedication to academics, helping others and strengthening the EOP community.

Forty-three seniors received the SUNY Outstanding Academic Achievement Award, a statewide recognition presented by the SUNY Chancellor’s Office of Opportunity Programs. Several Foundation Awards were also presented along with certificates of merit acknowledging our 12 students graduating with honors.

Posted in: