ST. BONAVENTURE — Two St. Bonaventure University students with exceptional academic and leadership accomplishments were recognized as the Ideal Bonaventure Students for the Class of 2018.
Haylei John, the Ideal Bonaventure Woman, and Jordan Powers, the Ideal Bonaventure Man, were recognized on Saturday, May 12, during the university’s Honors Ceremony, and again Sunday during its 158th Commencement Exercises.
The Ideal Bonaventure Students exemplify the spirit of St. Bonaventure and the ideals of St. Francis through community service and academic excellence. They are selected by a committee that considers nominations from the campus community.
John, of Salamanca, a daughter of Mindy, ’95, and Kerry John, earned bachelor’s degrees in international studies and Spanish. Powers, of Lakewood, the son of Mark and Denise Powers, earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry.
Honorable mentions were accounting major Crisann Z. Bailey of Jamaica and theater major Taquan “Percy” Brown of Smithtown.
In addition to her dual majors, John completed minors in international business and political science and the Honors Program. She has been on the dean’s list every semester and was inducted into two academic honor societies, Phi Eta Sigma and Sigma Delta Pi.
An academic tutor with the university’s Learning Center, John has also been a student ambassador with the Office of Admissions, a resident assistant, orientation leader and peer coach. John was selected as the student representative on many university committees, including the Presidential Search Committee and the Academic Excellence Task Force of the University Planning Commission.
John has served as the head delegate of the campus Model United Nations Club as well as a member of Enactus and Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity.
John plans to attend Cornell Law School.
Ideal Bonaventure Man Jordan Powers has been a powerhouse in the pool and in the research lab.
Powers has been a member of the men’s Division I swimming and diving team since he transferred to St. Bonaventure in fall 2015. Among his athletic accomplishments this year, Powers was the winner of the 100-freestyle three times this season for the Bonnies and also won the 50-freestyle. At the 2018 Atlantic 10 Swimming and Diving Championships, Powers was a part of the silver medal 200-freestyle relay team.
The biochemistry major’s research has earned him two competitive awards in the past two years. He won the Undergraduate Student Oral Presentation Award at a regional professional meeting in 2016 and a competitive travel award from the American Society for Plant Biologists to present his research in Hawaii.
Also, Powers co-authored with Zhang a peer-reviewed research paper published in 2017. His work provided evidence of a new biological function of a known protein that expanded current understanding in the field.
During his time at St. Bonaventure, Powers has participated in numerous service activities, including volunteering at the Warming House and Cattaraugus County SPCA.
Powers plans to pursue a doctorate at Duke University this fall.
