Adam King honored as Outstanding Senior at SUNY Oswego

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Adam King, left, accepts the Outstanding Senior Award from SUNY Oswego Associate Vice President for Alumni Relations and Stewardship Betsy Oberst..

OSWEGO, NY (05/31/2011)(readMedia)-- State University of New York at Oswego leaders, faculty members and students recognized Houston native and Mayde Creek High School graduate Adam King as "Outstanding Senior" at the college's annual Torchlight Ceremony in May.

The Outstanding Senior Award goes to a graduating student who is highly involved on campus and maintains an exceptional academic record.

A political science major, King embraced numerous campus leadership roles while earning high marks in the classroom. In addition to several academic honors, such as the 2010 SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence, the former Student Association attorney general participated in more than two dozen extracurricular activities.

His involvement ranged from the Black Student Union and African, Latino, Asian and Native American conference (ALANA) to the Oswego Debate Society, which he helped establish.

He presented his research at McNair Scholars conferences around the country. King also received a campus Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award.

"I would not be able to stand here today if my mother had not made the sacrifices that allowed me to pursue my dreams," King told his mother, Tabetha Wynkoop, and an audience of more than 750 faculty, staff, fellow graduates and their friends and families gathered May 13 in Oswego's Campus Center convocation hall and arena.

He plans to pursue a master's degree in political science at Syracuse University's Maxwell School before eventually earning his doctorate.

King shared the stage with Torchlight Master of Ceremonies Steve Levy, a 1987 SUNY Oswego graduate and well-known ESPN anchor.

The Torchlight Ceremony is a long-standing annual event where several decades of SUNY Oswego alumni light candles from the torch of learning and spread the glow among graduating seniors to welcome them as the newest members of the Oswego Alumni Association. This year's Torchlight Ceremony included 30 alumni representing classes from the past seven decades.

Admission to SUNY Oswego is competitive. U.S. News named it among the "Top Public Regional Universities in the North" for 2011, and the Princeton Review includes Oswego in its college guidebook "The Best Northeastern Colleges."

A 150-year-old comprehensive college in the State University of New York system, Oswego enrolls over 8,000 students in its College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; School of Business; School of Communication, Media and the Arts; and School of Education.

PHOTO CAPTION: Adam King, left, accepts the Outstanding Senior Award from SUNY Oswego Associate Vice President for Alumni Relations and Stewardship Betsy Oberst..