Sandburg Student Trustee Donyae Payton Wins ICCTA's Gigi Campbell Award

  Aaron Frey
  Tuesday, May 8, 2018 4:15 PM
  Campus News

Galesburg, IL

Carl Sandburg College’s Donyae Payton has been named the winner of the 2018 Gigi Campbell Student Trustee Excellence Award by the Illinois Community College Trustees Association.

Payton, the first Sandburg student to win the honor since Meghan Kennedy in 2005, will be presented with the award at the ICCTA’s banquet June 1 in Springfield. The Gigi Campbell Student Trustee Excellence Award recognizes the ICCTA’s outstanding student leaders.

A first-generation college student, Payton has been on the dean’s list or honors list in each of his first three semesters at Sandburg. In addition to serving as the College’s student trustee during the 2017-18 academic year, Payton is a Sandburg student ambassador, vice president of programming for the Men of Distinction service fraternity, a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and on the leadership council for Sandburg’s TRIO Student Support Services program.

Payton received the 2017 Emerging Leaders Scholarship, a regional award given to a TRIO participant who demonstrates strong leadership and advocacy efforts in their community. Away from the College, Payton is commissioner of the City of Galesburg Community Relations Commission and has served as secretary for Young Professionals of Galesburg.

Criteria for the Gigi Campbell Student Trustee Excellence Award include:

• Making notable efforts to communicate with students and providing a viable means for feedback from the student body
• Being an active, participating member of the board of trustees
• Exhibiting acts in the best interests of the students, college and community college system
• Reporting on the problems and accomplishments of students and student organizations at board meetings

“Representing my peers and providing them with a voice has taught me how to have confidence in my own abilities while staying humble,” Payton said. “Sandburg provided the opportunities to engage in the multiple facets of student life that have not only been a learning experience but also a blessing.”