The Southern Illinois University (SIU) in the United States has conferred the 2024 Distinguished Student Award on Nigerian Saidat Rasaq Balogun.
Saidat, a doctorate degree student at SIU was awarded alongside seven other students from the university’s campuses located at Carbondale, Edwardsville, and Springfield by its board of trustees and the Student Advisory Committee for the SIU System (SACSS).
The SIU System President, Dan Mahony disclosed in a statement that SACSS received applications from across the system and selected an undergraduate and a graduate student each from Edwardsville and Carbondale, as well as one student from SIU schools of medicine, Law, Pharmacy and dental medicine.
“SIU is proud to have so many wonderfully accomplished students who are not only making a major impact on campus but also in the greater communities,” Mahony said.
The statement also stressed that Saidat, who is a first-class student at the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) has made a tremendous mark at the university as a teacher, researcher, and volunteer, noting that she is currently Vice President of SIU International Student Council.
“Serving international students is a key part of Saidat’s life at SIU. On campus, she works with numerous organisations focused on helping international and African students.
“Saidat’s service even extends to her home, where she often provides temporary housing to international students as they arrive or if they face challenges.
“She makes inclusivity a top priority as she takes the initiative to ensure that international students can find communities where they belong at SIU,” Mahony said.
Saidat who spoke with newsmen disclosed that she is currently in her third year at the Environmental Resource and Policy Department, at SIU’s Carbondale campus, adding that her PhD research aims to gain insight into historical and projected future changes in warm seasons and heat stress in the Midwestern United States.