Alexis Keeney selected as GCSU’S 2025-2026 Academic Recognition Day scholar

Sociology major Alexis Keeney (’26) is Georgia College & State University’s 2026 Academic Recognition Day scholar.

The University System of Georgia’s Academic Recognition Day is an annual event that honors outstanding students from the state’s public colleges and universities. Each USG institution selects one student who has demonstrated exceptional academic excellence as its scholar. 

Keeney said the recognition came as a surprise: “I've been recognized for my work in service and leadership, but having academic recognition means something entirely new.” 

For Keeney, school and work have always come first. 

“As a student who lives without her parents and pays for her own college, having good grades and academics is a necessity to receive scholarships and funding,” she said. “It's truly humbling to be seen and honored for that effort.” 

Upon arriving at GCSU, Keeney jumped in early with the GIVE Center, volunteering with Communities in Schools. Now, she works in the Office of Community Engagement & Belonging, where she plans service events for the entire GCSU community. Additionally, she serves as the president for Gamma Sigma Sigma, National Service Sorority Inc. and has won several silver and bronze medals from the Office of Community Engagement & Belonging.

“My motivation has always been to help people,” she said. “This internal love for helping has kept me centered on my goals and always pushed me in the best opportunity-opening directions.” 

One of her undertakings includes re-founding the Debunkers, the student sociology club. There, she served as president and helped establish the organization as one that “both spreads sociology but also commits to doing service in the community.” 

In her first year at GCSU, Keeney was selected for the Fulbright UK Summer Institute, which took her to Queen’s University Belfast to study conflict resolution in Northern Ireland. Keeney has also completed a number of research projects, including one with the Office of Community Engagement & Belonging that she presented at the Southern Sociological Society’s annual conference. 

“I've always loved school and enjoyed working with others in a classroom setting,” she said, “but never did I think I would conduct as much research as I have.”

In the future, Keeney hopes to earn graduate degrees in social work and possibly public health, with the goal of becoming a medical social worker.