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Yvettep
Veteran Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 1888
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 12, 2007 - 12:02 pm: | 
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http://diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/article_7230.shtml
It seems paradoxical, but by being the ultimate team player, DeCarol Davis, a junior at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, is leading the way in academics, basketball, student government — and even in transforming the Academy itself.
On the court and in the classroom, aboard ship or out in the local community, this Coast Guard cadet shines in every arena.
“DeCarol amazes us all. She’s off the charts academically, a league apart, yet she’s unbelievably modest and fits in to every team environment here,” says women’s basketball coach Alex Simonka, a retired Coast Guard commander who recruited Davis to the Academy.
Davis, the 2007 Arthur Ashe Jr. Female Sports Scholar of the Year, is a leader on USCG’s basketball and softball teams. She has been elected class president twice and helped establish the first recycling program on campus. Through her own initiative, she ensured that cadets studying leadership now also learn about the accomplishments and perspectives of Black women leaders in the Coast Guard.
“As a member of a group, I want to empower people, be their representative, make them great,” says the electrical engineering major.
The only Black woman in the junior class, Davis is ranked first among 237 classmates, with her GPA approaching 4.0. She has made the Dean’s List as well as the Commandant of Cadets’ List for Military Excellence, both top academic honors.
She was just named to the 2007 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District First Team for women’s basketball.
“On the court, DeCarol handles the ball well while also helping her teammates make their plays,” says Simonka. “She’s very focused on the group and is a calming influence.” This season, Davis averaged
8.8 points, 5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.
“Basketball is an awesome game,” says Davis. “You work toward a common goal, learn how to motivate others. There’s a dynamic and a solidarity that you build together. I love how the game drives me,
I love the group. And I feel the same way about being part of the Coast Guard.”
When injuries recently took her off the court, Davis cheered her teammates from the sidelines. She also continued a full schedule of out-of-class activities, including tutoring her peers in calculus and chemistry, participating in the cleanup of surrounding New London, Conn., neighborhoods and building homes with Habitat for Humanity. Davis also coaches a local high school softball team, plays in the regimental band and sings in a gospel choir.
The second-class cadet recently developed and produced an engineering outreach play for local schoolchildren called “The Little Engineer,” which has been commended by the Society of Women Engineers.
“In my 22 years at the Academy, DeCarol is the only cadet I’ve taught who is equally strong in the humanities and the sciences — as well as athletics and the arts,” says Dr. Faye Ringel, a professor of English who is now Davis’ graduate scholarship advisor. “She’s extraordinary, and she’s extremely courageous, intellectually fearless. She has a strong moral and ethical compass. In my honors literature classes, DeCarol inspires her classmates by asking the difficult questions. People admire her and listen to her.”
A native of Virginia, Davis says she draws inspiration and strength from her religious beliefs and her family.
“My parents and older sister, who’s completing her Ph.D., are phenomenal,” she says. “My mother is a librarian and a strong Black woman, very wise and willing to sacrifice for me. And my father, who’s a retired Marine, has taught me to challenge, to stand up for things. They allowed me the freedom to develop my own thoughts, yet made it clear that succeeding in school was my ‘job.’ So I’ve always felt the need to prove myself.
“They grew up in the South, experiencing the civil rights movement, and they raised me with a sense of urgency and responsibility,” Davis continues. “I have high regard for what others have done for me and feel obligated to be part of that bridge.”
Her concerns range from energy and the environment to issues of peace and justice. This summer, Davis will conduct research on employing Smart Meters for tracking electrical energy usage. In graduate school, she plans to study environmental science policy and management, then perhaps head to law school. She envisions applying her learning and talents within the Coast Guard or in the U.S. Department of Energy.
The idealistic Davis is the Academy’s pick this year as an applicant for the Truman Scholarship and Rhodes Scholarship.
Simonka remarks that the cadet has grown into an exceptional military leader at the Academy. He predicts that “DeCarol will be a great leader for all of us one day.”
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Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 9163
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 12, 2007 - 01:09 pm: |
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That there is one remarkably smart, motivated and generous young lady. I mean, heck, you almost loose your breath just reading about how much she's accomplishing. |
Ntfs_encryption
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Ntfs_encryption
Post Number: 2037
Registered: 10-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 12, 2007 - 02:44 pm: |
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This is one truly gifted young black woman. It's amazing to see someone with that much talent. She looks like the antidote to the comments Don Imus made. |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 9176
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 12, 2007 - 02:47 pm: |
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Ntfs,
Bruh. The young ladies Imus referred to are THEMSELVES a worth antidote to what his foola$$ said. |
Ntfs_encryption
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Ntfs_encryption
Post Number: 2043
Registered: 10-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 12, 2007 - 03:07 pm: |
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"Bruh. The young ladies Imus referred to are THEMSELVES a worth antidote to what his foola$$ said."
This is true. |
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