Enow Ayuk, from Dublin, Georgia, and Chauntilena Butler, from Augusta, Georgia, each received the President’s Second Mile Award at the 191st commencement ceremony for Savannah State University on December 9, 2017.  The award, which recognizes remarkable leadership on campus, in the Savannah community and beyond, is open to graduating seniors.

Ayuk, a biology major and honor student, served as a volunteer at the Frank Callen Boys and Girls Club, American Red Cross, Oglethorpe Charter School, Moses Jackson Community Center and a local nursing home. He also gave back in his hometown at Dublin Middle and High Schools. On campus, he served in leadership roles as a member of the Student Government Association, Collegiate 100, National Pan Hellenic Council, NAACP and more.  

Ayuk will graduate summa cum laude having participated in biomedical research including working with carbon nanotubes to combat salmonella bacteria and drug treatment research on glioblastoma. He plans to attend medical school and become a neurosurgeon.

Butler, a biology major with a concentration in secondary education, also volunteered with numerous off-campus organizations, including after school programs and science mentoring initiatives. She is involved on campus as a Student Orientation Leader, a member of SGA, National Council of Negro Women, Georgia Educators Association and more.

She was a Peach State Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participations scholar, presenting research on extracting heavy metals from cocoa growing soils in Trinidad and Tobago. She also interned at the Savannah River Environmental Science Field Station where she worked in the field on metals extraction at the site in Aiken, South Carolina. She plans to become a teacher in the STEM fields.