UM women’s tennis player, international studies-economics major Gabby Rangel was honored with a Taylor Medal at the annual Honors Convocation April 12, 2012 at the Ford Center for Performing Arts.
The Taylor Medal is the highest academic honor a student can receive at the University of Mississippi. Rangel received a Taylor Medal in the College of Liberal Arts.
“To have three student-athletes among 64 at the University receive the highest academic award on campus, shows the commitment by our student-athletes to the student side of their careers,” said Executive Associate Athletics Director Lynnette Johnson. These women have been excellent on and off the field/court and obviously set the tone for their individual teams with their high level of academic accomplishments.”
The Taylor Medal recognizes outstanding academic performance and is given to no more than one percent of the student body. To be considered, a student must have a grade-point average of at least a 3.90.
Rangel, of Hendersonville, Tenn., boasts a 3.94 GPA in international studies-economics. She has helped lead the Rebels to a No. 16 national ranking and a top-four finish in the SEC. A three-time ITA Scholar-Athlete, Rangel was a recent finalist for the SEC Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Postgraduate Scholarship.
The Taylor Memorial was founded by William A. Taylor in June 1904. He founded the award in memory of his son, Marcus Elvis Taylor, an honored alumnus of the class of 1871, and out of benevolent regard and good will for the youth of the state and the interest and the work of the University of Mississippi, and for the encouragement of meritorious scholarship deportment.
The Taylor Memorial, as well as the other awards presented to the students, is chosen by a committee of faculty and staff members.