LBW Announces 2025 All-Alabama Academic Team Representatives Ashland Kelley and Emily Anne Morgan also named Coca-Cola Scholars

LBW Community College sophomores Ashland Kelley and Emily Anne Morgan recently received prestigious recognition for exceptional academic achievement, distinguished leadership, and community service as 2025 All-Alabama Academic Team members. Honored at a luncheon hosted by the Alabama Community College System (ACCS) on April 11 in Birmingham, each student received a $1,000 scholarship for earning the All-Alabama designation and was also named a Coca-Cola Academic Scholar.

All-Alabama Academic Team students are nominated by their colleges and must maintain a minimum 3.25 GPA, be actively involved in campus activities, and have completed a minimum of 12 semester hours at the institution.

Ashland Kelley, of Andalusia, was named a 2025 Coca-Cola Academic Team Gold Scholar and received an additional $1,500 scholarship. An engineering major with a 4.0 GPA, she plans to transfer to the University of Alabama to pursue a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering.

Kelley has goals of becoming a successful woman in STEM and says that her advisors at LBW have assisted her with achieving that dream.

“They have helped me stay on track to achieve my career goals and have assisted me in so many ways beyond my education,” Kelley said. “LBW is filled with amazing people who want to see you succeed. I have been blessed with so many opportunities to lead, meet new people, build connections, and gain new life skills.”

At LBW, Kelley has served as a leader for the volleyball program as team chaplain, treasurer of the Student Government Association, member of Mu Alpha Theta mathematics honor society, and Vice President of Service for Phi Theta Kappa.

“I was so excited to hear that I was chosen for this honor,” she said. “It means a lot for me to represent LBW in this way. Without the amazing people I have been surrounded by at the College, many of these opportunities wouldn’t be possible.”

Emily Anne Morgan, of Dozier, was named a Coca-Cola Academic Team Silver Scholar and received an additional $1,250 scholarship. She also holds a 4.0 GPA and is pursuing a degree in speech, language and hearing sciences, with plans to become a pediatric speech-language pathologist. She will graduate with an Associate in Science in May and transfer to Auburn University.

“LBW’s administration and staff have been incredibly supportive of my goal to become a speech-language pathologist,” Morgan said.

She credited LBW’s concurrent enrollment program with Auburn University for helping her get a head start in her major coursework.

“I am grateful that I became a concurrent enrollment student because it has pushed me out of my comfort zone and has shown me that I can accomplish what I set out to do with hard work and perseverance,” she said.

Morgan’s involvement at LBW includes Student Government Association President, College Ambassador, Phi Theta Kappa honor society President, and Compass Club Vice President just to name a few.

Additionally, she serves as the Distinguished Young Woman Scholarship Program of Crenshaw County Co-Chairman and as a National Association of RC&D Councils Ambassador, recently spearheading a pollinator garden project on campus – Saints Haven Pollinator Garden.

“We are incredibly proud of Ashland and Emily Anne,” said LBW President Dr. Brock Kelley. “They exemplify what it means to be a student leader, and I’m confident they will continue to succeed. I’m grateful that LBW has been a place they called ‘home’ and a part of their journey.”

The All-Alabama Academic Team recognition program was founded in 1995 to complement the All-USA National Academic Team Program sponsored by USA Today, Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, and the American Association of Community Colleges.