By Jeff Hendrix
Student Writer, EKU Communications and Marketing
Shy when he arrived at Eastern Kentucky University, Latrell Floyd is now receiving awards for his work in campus outreach.
Floyd, a communications major from Bardstown, recently received EKU’s Diversity and Inclusion Award for undergraduate students.
“This student is an extremely hard-working individual,” said Takisha Mack, who nominated Floyd for one of the diversity awards. “He always gives it his all. He is very motivated, determined, and persistent to succeed and get a degree and go further with his education, and he is motivated to help people along the way as well.”
Associate Director of Diverse Student Retention Tiesha Douglas also praised Floyd.
“Latrell’s achievement is simply due to him being someone who continues to show a personal passion for diversity and inclusion,” Douglas said. “He has such a gentle spirit and illustrates the Golden Rule of treating people as you’d like to be treated on a daily basis.”
Floyd has many roles and responsibilities on campus. He serves as president of his fraternity (Phi Beta Sigma), vice president of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, webmaster for the Black Student Union, and works as orientation and tour guide for the Office of Admissions. He believes that “being involved in the community in any way” will benefit not only the community, but those who help the community, because “it promotes personal growth and self-esteem.”
By becoming more involved in the campus community, Floyd was also able to find his career direction and his passion for outreach. “EKU has really brought me out of my shell,” he said. By getting involved in various student organizations, he was “able to declare my major because I realized how much I like talking to people.”
Being involved in on-campus organizations is important for Floyd, and one of the most critical organizations to him is the University’s Office of Diversity, where he’s able to share “what our diverse students believe and feel” based on his many activities and interactions. “I believe this can build our retention rate for the diverse population on campus,” he said.
Prospective Eastern students can find Floyd giving campus tours regularly, one of his favorite duties with the Office of Admissions. When guiding newcomers around campus, Floyd likes to win them over with his great sense of humor, knowledge of campus, and smile.
Floyd plans to graduate in Fall 2017 and has made plenty of fond memories at Eastern along the way. “My favorite memories on campus are joining my fraternity,” he said, “and I was on the 2016 Homecoming Court, which was a life-changing experience.”
In fact, Floyd loves campus life so much that he’s decided he doesn’t want to leave it behind after graduating. He plans to remain at Eastern to pursue a master’s degree in Student Personnel Services in Higher Education. Graduates of the program usually work in admissions, recruiting, housing, scholarship administration, and other areas essential to campus operations.
By all accounts, he’s already off to a good start.