Sarah Stansell Awarded The Winnie and D.M. Wiggins Medal at Hardin-Simmons University Graduation

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Sarah Stansell

ABILENE, TX (12/20/2011)(readMedia)-- Sarah Stansell, of McAllen, TX, was awarded The Winnie and D.M. Wiggins Medal at the 2011 Winter Commencement exercises at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, TX.

The Winnie and D.M. Wiggins Medal is awarded to the senior student graduating at the close of the winter session for academic excellence throughout his or her entire college career. This medal is awarded to one who has spent three or more years in residence and who has excelled in character, personal development, and academic achievement.

Stansell has distinguished herself academically. She received many scholarships including the Trustee Scholarship, Pratt Business Scholarship, and the Leadership Minor Scholarship. She has maintained a 4.0 grade point average while majoring in both accounting and finance, an exceptionally difficult combination attempted by few students.

She is a recipient of the W. Willard Pratt Endowed Scholarship in Business and Leadership and of the Ruby A. and Jesse N. Fletcher Award for Outstanding School of Business Student of 2011. Stansell is also a member of Delta Mu Delta International Honor Society in Business Administration.

While doing this she co-captained the Hardin-Simmons women's soccer team and gained the friendship and respect of her teammates as she helped lead them to a National Championship title. At the Final Four she was selected as the recipient of NCAA Elite 88, a prestigious award, as the top student-athlete at the Final Four.

Stansell was an NSCAA Academic All-American as well as a Division 3 Soccer All-American in 2010.  She was the team captain of the national championship team, a great leader for the team, credited highly for the victory.

Stansell graduated summa cum laude, December 17, 2011, with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a double major of accounting and finance and a minor in leadership. She will be joining the accounting firm of BDO-Seidman.

Stansell is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Stansell, of McAllen. Texas.

About Hardin-Simmons

HSU has an enrollment of approximately 2,300 undergrad and graduate students from 29 states and 19 countries.

HSU has a 13:1 student faculty ratio with a campus that sits on 209 acres. Seventy-nine percent of HSU's faculty members hold the highest degree in their field.

The university is named by U.S. News and World Report as one of the best universities in the western region of the United States and is listed by The Princeton Review as a Top Ten Best in the West University. It is a member of the Colleges of Distinction, and the Chronicle of Higher Education named it to their honor roll as a "Great College to Work For."

Seven undergraduate degrees encompass 70 major fields including: athletic training, criminal justice, social work, counseling, psychology, molecular biology, biochemistry, environmental science, religion, music, art, teaching, history, communications, English, and sociology.

Ten graduate degrees include the Doctor of Ministry and the Doctor of Physical Therapy.

International study programs include England, Austria, Hong Kong, Spain, and Australia.

Hardin-Simmons University, founded in 1891, is a private Christian institution, and has been affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas (Texas Baptists) since 1941.