Clarksville, Ark.-Brandon Pierson and Lea Rana have been named winners of the inaugural American Southwest Conference Community Service Award, the ASC office announced on Wednesday after a vote of the league's Directors of Athletics.
The ASC Community Service Award honors a male and female student-athlete who best displays leadership and action in fostering community service on their campus and local community. Each ASC member institution nominated its campus Community Service Award winner to the conference-wide ballot.
Pierson, a year-four member of the soccer team, has performed 120 hours of community service during his four-year career at Ozarks. The Allen, Texas, native volunteered his time with an area-wide Highway Cleanup, a campus Halloween Trick-or-Treat project for children and gave free guitar lessons to young adults. Pierson excelled in the classroom, earning ASC All-Academic Team honors three years. He was a member of Who’s Who Among American College Students and was given Ozarks’ prestigious Max A. Pinkerton Award this year. Pierson’s other leadership positions included serving as Vice-President of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and as a Residence Assistant. During his four-years at Ozarks, he has been a member of Phi Beta Lambda, Baptist Collegiate Ministries, College Republicans, the Student Government Association and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Pierson was recently selected by Ozarks’ students and faculty to be the student speaker at graduation. He additionally completed internships in Washington D.C. and at Crossmark Marketing in Plano, Texas.
Rana, a four-year member of the tennis team and a native of Dallas, Texas, has served diligently as the Ozarks’ Student-Athlete Advisory Committee President this year. Rana, who also served as the SAAC Vice-President as a junior, spearheaded a number of community-oriented projects. Her volunteer work included helping raise over $700 for a 5K Race for the Cure event held in Little Rock, Arkansas. She was also a part of a fundraising event that collected over $1,000 in the “Make A Change” campaign during basketball season. Rana’s campus organization memberships included the Student Foundation Board, Residence Hall Association and yearbook staff. Rana excelled on the tennis court for Ozarks, earning All-Conference honors in both singles and doubles this season. She also picked up an ASC Player of the Week honor this year. Over the past four years, Rana participated in several community service projects with school-age children. She volunteered her time with a local Boys and Girls Club, read to children at Clarksville Elementary School and assisted with Ozarks’ “Kids Day Out.” She also volunteered time with in a campus Angel Tree project at Christmas. On campus, Rana served as a campus peer mentor, assisted with Ozarks’ Family Weekend and facilitated a food drive for the underprivileged.
Topics: Athletics