Awards of Distinction

Kathryn Long, of Jackson, is a senior communication sciences and disorders major and serves as App State's 58th student body president. She is also a Plemmons Scholar and a member of App State's Honors College. After graduating from the university in May, Long will take part in the Presidential Scholars Program at the UNC System Office, where she will serve and support the work of the System's institutions and affiliates.

Long has dedicated her academic career to helping other Mountaineers, including serving as a Student Orientation Undergraduate Leader, a student guide for the university's Trailhead Experience leadership development program, and chair of the Appalachian Popular Programming Society's Spirit and Traditions Council.

"Kathryn has truly elevated the role of student body president to an entirely new level," wrote a nominator. "She is gifted at creating connections and relationships ... and has an ability to leverage relationships to mobilize others in the development and execution of many initiatives."

Long has served as a student representative on the App State Board of Trustees for the 2024–25 academic year, and she also represented Mountaineer students as one of 13 members of the App State Chancellor Search Advisory Committee, which was tasked with finding the university's next chancellor — Dr. Heather Hulburt Norris.