STUEYs 2024: A tribute to President Hanbury

Gerard Wheeler, assistant dean of student engagement, accepts the award for 2024 Executive of the Year.

Deanna Skowronksi, fourth-year dental student, won the 2024 Student of the Year award at the 26th annual Student Life Achievement Awards (STUEYs) on April 9 in the Rose and Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center.

“I’m so happy with my education at NSU. The dental school is just amazing. We have by far the best faculty in the world. They care tremendously about their students and I would not be here unless it was for them,” Skowronksi said.

The STUEYs is an annual award show that celebrates NSU staff, faculty, alumni, students and athletic teams. NSU President George L. Hanbury II, who has attended every one, announced last September that he was stepping down as president and CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2025.

“I’ve been at the university going on 27 years, but tonight was the most choreographed, rehearsed and professional demonstration of talent at NSU that I’ve seen,” Hanbury said.

At the STUEYs, Hanbury remembered first coming to NSU and talking to Brad Williams, founder of the STUEYs and senior vice president for enrollment management and student affairs.

“Dr. Williams had been here a few short years before and I said, ‘Brad, what’s the most important thing you think at NSU?’ And he said, ‘Well, it’s all about the students.’ And that’s the way I’ve lived my life for the last 27 years,” Hanbury said.

Khijani Kaheim Williams, sophomore business administration major, received the Juan Pablo Correa Memorial Scholarship Award. Melissa Dore, director of academic support and administration in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences, won 2024 Administrator of the Year. Barri Litt, professor of accounting in the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship, won 2024 Professor of the Year. Gerard Wheeler, assistant dean of student engagement, won 2024 Executive of the Year.

“I am a big believer in giving students a voice, to give them purpose, to give them hope when they don’t have hope, and to believe in them when no one else believes in them,” Wheeler said.

The STUEYs also featured a video tribute to Hanbury, a flash mob with a Shark Talent performance of “Viva la Vida” by Coldplay, a piano performance of Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” by Amanda Almeida, a dance performance to Adele’s “Love in the Dark” by Rachel Harris, and a performance of The Chiffons’ “One Fine Day” by Shark Gold.