Godoy and McClendon first Recipients of the Eckman Awards

In attaining the top ranks among the honors freshmen and sophomores of the 2016 fall seminars at NTCC, Brenda Godoy, and Presley McClendon would typically have been pictured in the honors newsletter, Alacrity.  But for the first time this year, they were also winners of the Richard, and Joan Eckman Awards for Excellence in Honors.  Both received $100 as a prize for their work in raising the bar of excellence at the college.

Both Presidential Scholars have made significant contributions.  Godoy, 2016 Mount Pleasant Salutatorian, wrote one of the college’s best essays in 2016, on hierarchies during the Texas Revolution, and excelled in challenging courses relating to her major in biology and chemistry.  McClendon was the director of the film soon to be premiered on Sam Houston and the Texas Cherokee, and has won other prizes at NTCC in poetry and critical thinking.

The cash awards came as the result of an anonymous donation in memory of Richard and Joan Eckman.  Richard Eckman was a long-time employee of Dresser Industries, a signature Texas oilfield corporation. Among his many patents was a pecking drill that was used in the development of the stealth Nighthawk fighter.

Brenda is the daughter of Policarpo and Esperanza Godoy of Mount Pleasant.  Presley is the daughter of Jeff and Charey McClendon, also of Mount Pleasant.

- Submitted by Dr. Andrew Yox, Director, Honors Northeast