HPU Presents 2025 University Awards
High Point University recognized the outstanding achievements of students in their academic pursuits, through campus leadership and within the community during Honors Day ceremonies on April 15. Pictured from left are award winners Benjamin Niehaus, Mac Mollins, Hays Turner, Louise Bloom, Tyler Matthews and Kristen Jackson.
HIGH POINT, N.C., May 1, 2025 – High Point University recognized the outstanding achievements of students in their academic pursuits, through campus leadership and within the community during Honors Day ceremonies on April 15.
Several exemplary students were presented University Awards for their scholarly achievements, character, leadership, service and overall impact at HPU. The university gives awards for Achievement, Citizenship, Leadership and Service to seniors in the graduating class based on excellence in their respective categories. Students are nominated by faculty and staff members and selected by a committee appointed by the vice president of Student Life.
Among the awards, six students received outstanding senior recognition:
Mac Mollins Received the University Award for Achievement
Mollins, a history and political science double major from Clayton, North Carolina, was recently awarded the Critical Language Scholarship to study Turkish in Anakara, Turkey, for the summer of 2025. After graduation, he will return to Turkey, where he will continue to study Turkish and teach English. He also plans to pursue a master’s degree in international relations and eventually work as a political analyst in the U.S. State Department. He was a recipient of the David R. Boren Scholarship to study Turkish in Baku, Azerbaijan, for the fall 2024 semester. While working in Azerbaijan as a Boren Scholar, he volunteered to speak to middle schoolers and participated in farm work.
A professor described Mollins as a student who “pours his entire self into his work and consistently witnessed his diligence, attention to detail and responsibility firsthand.” While at HPU, he has exhibited immersive intellectual curiosity and a high commitment within scholarly and academic pursuits. Currently a semifinalist for a Fulbright Scholarship, he is also a member of Phi Alpha Theta and the National History Honors Society, as well as an HPU Presidential Founders Scholarship recipient. He has represented HPU at multiple honors conferences and presented papers in Tennessee and North Carolina. He presented a paper, titled “Overcoming Ostracization: An Analysis of the Catholic Church’s Power of Excommunication,” at the North Carolina Association of Historians’ annual conference in 2024 and created a podcast called “Dialogues with The Past,” where he interviewed HPU’s history professors about historical topics.
Mollins has also served as a Student Justice, a University Ambassador and a supplemental instructor while at HPU. In his spare time, he likes to sing and is a member of the All-Male Acapella Group, the Toccatatones. He was selected by his peers twice to be Senator of the Month for the Student Government Association (SGA). Active on campus, he is also a peer mentor for the HPU Honors Scholar Program, founding secretary of HPU Democrats and a member of the Omicron Kappa Delta leadership fraternity. As the founding student assistant for HPU’s Department of History’s Medieval and Early Modern Physic Greenhouse, he developed a tour designed for local community members to enjoy through the High Point Museum.
Hays Turner Received the University Award for Citizenship
Turner, a political science major with minors in legal studies and strategic communication from Purcellville, Virginia, has been an active member of the Political Science Department and North Carolina politics since stepping onto campus in 2021. After graduation, she has accepted a position in public service as a staff assistant for U.S. Congressman John McGuire’s District Office in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Turner is a Presidential Scholar, a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success, Siegfried Leadership Fellows, the Greek Honor Society Order of Omega and Pi Sigma Alpha, the political science honor society. An active volunteer, she has been a leader in peer tutoring, local and state government, partisan politics, nonpartisan “get out and vote” organizer, and nonpartisan campus groups. As a supplemental instructor and tutor, she has coached numerous students through regular tutoring sessions. She interned for her local member of the Virginia Senate and the Trump Presidential Campaign in 2024. She has been a student organization leader, scheduling and running many events on campus, including a visit from then Senator JD Vance. In 2024, she worked as a CNN runner at the Republican National Convention to organize guest appearances for various shows, assist with content and production logistics for live broadcasts and gain firsthand experience to political media coverage and behind-the-scenes production processes. Actively involved in campus life, she is the vice president of Turning Point USA and a member of the Executive Council for Zeta Tau Alpha, Delta Gamma Chapter. In partnership with HPU Chapel, she also founded the Greek Life Bible Study to foster a spiritual connection and community within Fraternity and Sorority Life at HPU.
Louise Bloom Received the University Award for Leadership
Bloom is an elementary education major, an Education Fellow and an HPU Presidential Scholar from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. After graduation, she will attend New York University to pursue a master’s in educational leadership, politics and advocacy. She plans to take the skills and knowledge she learned in her elementary education and political science courses, combined with her teaching experiences in elementary schools within the city of High Point, and apply it to the graduate program. After graduate school, she plans to serve as an educator in schools, nonprofits and/or government organizations to promote and improve the education system.
Since arriving on campus in the fall of 2021, Bloom has been a natural leader at HPU – as a Resident Assistant and Senior Resident Assistant in Centennial Square I and II, a Student Justice, a Supreme Court Justice, treasurer for Teachers of Tomorrow and recipient of the Senior Resident Assistant of the Year in 2024. She credits the Stout School of Education for allowing her to get into the classroom during her freshman year to see what leading a classroom as a teacher was all about. She is involved in the Kappa Delta Sorority and has held various leadership positions from logistics to the events team, and she is active in the Pi Education Honor Society. She is a student who demonstrates substantial servant leadership at all levels among her peers within the HPU community.
Tyler Matthews Received the University Award for Service
Matthews is a biology major with a concentration in health sciences from Thomasville, North Carolina. After graduation, he will continue his academic journey at the University of North Carolina’s Adams School of Dentistry.
As an active member in numerous campus organizations and initiatives, Matthews embodies the values of personal initiative, generosity, gratitude, civility and respect fostered at HPU. He has volunteered with freshman move-in, has served as a peer mentor and a biology tutor, and works with the Pre-Dental Club to answer questions and review personal statements and study tactics for other pre-dental students within the club. In the High Point community, he volunteered at local food banks and the Roy B. Culler Jr. Senior Center through various clubs on campus, engaging and playing games with elderly guests.
He is a recipient of the Presidential Scholarship Founder Award and a Junior Marshal. He has been on the Dean’s List every semester, and worked as manager of the HPU Aquaculture Facility in the Wanek School of Natural Sciences. He completed five semesters of research in the Coffield Lab at HPU and conducted experiments on the effects of color on zebrafish reproductive health. A first-generation college student, he remembers driving past HPU as a child and asking his parents, “What is that place?” He still remembers his dad’s response: “That’s a college. One day, you could go there and learn about anything you want.” He describes his time at HPU as a place that “has cultivated a deep sense of purpose, academic discipline and a strong desire to create lasting, meaningful change in the lives of others.” Matthews plans to pursue a career in dentistry focused on serving “dental deserts,” which are communities that have limited access to dental care. His long-term goal is to practice in underserved areas where he can make the most profound impact, restoring not only oral health but also confidence, dignity and trust in the healthcare system.
Kristen Jackson Received the University Community Impact Award
Jackson, a strategic communication major from Charlotte, North Carolina, has exemplified leadership, service and academic excellence throughout her time at HPU. She is a Presidential Scholar, a Communication Fellow, a Junior Marshal, Dean’s List recipient and member of the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society.
She has been actively involved with the SGA, Campus Outreach, Lambda Pi Eta Communication Honor Society, the Public Relations Student Society of America, the National Society of Leadership and Success, the Volunteer Center and Best Buddies. She has also served as a First-Year Navigator, an office assistant in the Office of Communication, and as president of Turning Point USA. Her commitment to service is evident through her efforts in planning a care package event in partnership with the USO to benefit service men and women. She has championed voter registration initiatives and helped bring nationally recognized speakers to campus, including Vice President JD Vance and Dr. Ben Carson, offering students the opportunity to engage with influential leaders.
Benjamin Niehaus Received the Outstanding Servant Leader Award
Niehaus, a finance major with a minor in accounting from Chattanooga, Tennessee, has exemplified service to others through his leadership, dedication and influence within the HPU community. He is in the Honors Scholars Program, a Presidential Scholar and a multi-semester Dean’s List Recipient. He has served as a peer mentor and a personal trainer with HPU Recreation Services, and he held several executive SGA leadership positions, including president, vice president of campus engagement and executive treasurer.
Niehaus is described as a servant leader who prioritizes the growth, well-being and needs of others through empathy, listening, stewardship and a commitment to holistic growth of the entire community, not just oneself. One nominator said Niehaus “has taken a different approach to leadership – one rooted in humility, integrity and a genuine love for community, working behind the scenes in a role that often receives little to no recognition. This student never seeks the spotlight, but his impact has been felt by the entire campus community in countless ways.”