The Weber State Speech team triumphed at the National Online Forensics Championship, competing against 50 different universities and winning first overall. "This is a huge feather in our cap for a new and upcoming team," said Mark Galaviz, head coach. "The dedication it takes for a team to compete against the likes of Cal State, Bowling Green, Texas State and the University of California is immense, and our students exemplify that work." This year has seen Weber State maintain its Gold Medal program status in the region (only two schools qualify for this honor in the Pacific Northwest, northern California and Utah.) At every tournament the team has attended this year, it has placed in the top four. The team will continue its competition with the Comprehensive Finals in April. "Speech and Debate gives me the opportunity to work on my advocacy and interpersonal communication skills," said Jazmyne Olson, team member. "I love being able to engage in discourse with other college students across the country on different issues from job outsourcing to representation in the media." The team will compete at a final national tournament April 14-20 in Illinois. On April 23 at 6 p.m. in the Elizabeth Hall Auditorium, the team will celebrate its year-long success with an event for students to showcase their best presentations. The event will be free and open to the public. "A trophy is nice to have at the end of a tournament," Olson said. "However, it's the interactions with my team and competitors that makes the work worth it to me."

More than 800 received the honor of Academic Excellence in the summer, signifying they maintained a GPA of at least 3.5. Of those 800, approximately 280 students earned the distinction of High Academic Excellence for maintaining a 4.0 GPA.

Carnegie Mellon University's program is ranked No. 1 in the nation with an average acceptance rate of less than 20 percent. Lindsey Oliva was happy when her husband Joel was accepted last year to Carnegie Mellon University's (CMU) graduate program for information security and information management and then was thrilled to receive her own acceptance letter this year.

Success is great, but perfect is something else, and perfect is this year's success rate for Weber State University applicants to Carnegie Mellon University's (CMU) graduate program for information security and information management. Five students will enter the master's program in the fall, and nine are participating in the summer internship.

The Ceremony of Excellence also includes the Dr. Forrest C. Crawford Distinguished Stewardship Award given to an outstanding graduate student. This year's honoree is Phattia "Tia" Nero, who is earning a master of education with an emphasis in higher education leadership.

This year's student winners include: Kylee Treseder (Volunteer Service), Jonah Williams (Male Athletic Achievement), Takesha Saltern (Female Athletic Achievement), Yuqi Liu (Talent of the Year), Liz Homez (Excellence in Inclusivity), Armand Berry (Wildcat Achievement), Tyler David Browning (Scholar of the Year), Rachel Creer (Woman of the Year), and Kade Crittenden (Man of the Year). Staff, faculty and campus groups were also honored. Winners include Teresa Martinez (Friend of Students), David Aguilar-Alvarez (Master Teacher), WSU Energy & Sustainability Office and the Sustainability Practices and Research Center (Presidential Award), and Weber State Hockey Club (Registered Organization of the Year).