Troy University has honored two students and a member of the University’s faculty with the 2021 Algernon Sydney Sullivan Awards.

Oshea D. Beckford, a senior criminal justice major from Huntsville, Martavious Ginyard, a senior theatre major from Troy, and Annie Percy, English as a Second Language Instructor at TROY, received the Sullivan Awards during a luncheon in their honor on the Troy Campus. The recipients were also honored during the University’s annual Honors Convocation on April 19.

The Sullivan Award, which is presented at select colleges and universities throughout the United States, recognizes recipients for their excellence of character, humanitarian service and spiritual qualities. The award has been presented annually to a male student, a female student and one non-student at TROY since 1981. Students, faculty and staff nominate candidates for the award.

“We feel it is appropriate that we present the Sullivan Awards at Troy University because it reflects our focus on leadership and the importance of integrity in leadership,” said Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr., Chancellor. “These values, I believe, are more important in our society today than ever before.” 

Beckford, who will graduate at this spring and plans to attend law school, has served as a Student Government Association Senator during 2021, Vice President of the Criminal Justice Honor Society Alpha Phi Sigma, and has been included on the Provost’s List each semester since enrolling at TROY.

Beckford founded Project Purpose, an initiative created to bridge the socioeconomic gap that hinders certain youth in Jamaica from achieving their educational goals.

Ginyard has performed with the University’s touring group, the Pied Pipers, and appeared in many of the Theatre Department’s productions, including “Mamma Mia!” An artist and designer, Ginyard has his own business, Martavious Ginyard Artwork.

Ginyard has served as a leader for the Department’s Summer Spotlight Camp and is a volunteer with the Troy Animal Clinic and Troy Animal Rescue Project. He is a member of The Vine Church and is an active participant in the congregation’s college small group ministry.

Percy first began teaching at TROY as an adjunct instructor in 2008, and has been a full-time member of the ESL faculty since 2014.

Always demonstrating a heart for serving others, Percy is an active volunteer for organizations such as the Salvation Army, Save-A-Life and the Montgomery Food Bank, among others.

She and her husband Larry, a member of the University’s Art and Design faculty, regularly host events and gatherings for TROY’s international students, who are unable to travel home during the summer or holiday seasons.

“I know that I speak for many on the campus of TROY and throughout the city of Troy when I say that our community is brighter, happier, richer and more sublime because of Annie’s enthusiastic teaching, her strong work ethic, her selfless acts, her encouraging spirit and her contagious smile,” said Jerry Johnson, retired professor and lecturer in the Department of Art and Design. “Her heart seems to always focus on the success of the “other person”—that otherness focuses on her students, her colleagues, her church family and several other ‘faith-based’ organizations in the region.”