Makkah Hayes is excited about her future. The 20-year-old just graduated summa cum laude earlier this month from Cheyney University of Pennsylvania with a BA in Psychology and a 3.97 GPA. In addition, the Keystone Honors Academy (KHA) Scholar recently found out that she will receive the Executive Board Member of the Year Award from the National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS). NSLS, the nation’s largest leadership honor society, has more than 500 chapters and nearly 600,000 members nationwide.
“I was excited,” Hayes said, upon learning that she was one of three winners and the first to receive a national award from the Cheyney University NSLS chapter.
“She’s an outstanding individual who is a credit to her family, definitely a credit to Cheyney University and definitely a credit to herself,” acknowledges LaMott Moore, Cheyney’s NSLS Advisor. “Makkah is conscientious. When you give her a project or some work, you don’t have to worry about it getting done. Her work ethic is outstanding and she is just, flat out, a nice person.”
Not an average student, Hayes has always been driven and appears to excel at whatever she attempts. The North Philadelphia native finished high school at age 16, graduated summa cum laude a year later from Peirce College in Philadelphia with an Associate’s degree in Arts and a 4.0 GPA, and decided to get her BA degree from Cheyney.
“I always knew that I was going to attend an HBCU (Historically Black College and University) like my parents and older brothers so, when I visited Cheyney University on my college road trip with my family, I was excited,” she recalls. “My family has inspired and encouraged me to continue my academic career in higher education. My parents and two older brothers all have graduate degrees in their specific fields of study. Thus, my matriculation at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania was not a goal, but a standard to continue the “Hayes Family” legacy on excellence, which I am proud to carry on with me in my academic career.” READ More
