PULLMAN, Wash. - Washington State soccer's Kelis Barton was awarded a 2020 President's Award by the President Kirk Schulz at the WSU Leadership and Engagement Awards of Distinction Tuesday, April 21. In addition to earning a President's Award, Barton also was named the 2020 recipient of the Virginia E. Thomas Scholarship.

The President's Awards honor those who advance leadership and engagement at WSU and beyond. Recipients of the award demonstrate exceptional leadership and service to students, WSU and our community.

On top of being recognized among the top leaders at WSU, Barton took home the prestigious Thomas scholarship that was named in honor of Virginia E. Thomas, the former Director of the Leadership Center at WSU. The scholarship honors her legacy of excellence, integrity and character, discovery, and service.

Barton, a sophomore with the Cougars' soccer team, finished her sophomore season in 2019 as an integral part of the team's historic run to the program's first College Cup. Off the field, the second-year Coug has been a campus leader, founding the Black Student-Athlete Association while also representing WSU at the Black Student-Athlete Summit each of the last two years. She is the Director of Communications for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee as well as a Peer Academic Counselor Mentor. While working on her degree in journalism, Barton has also interned for Cougar Athletics Social Media Department.

In addition to her work at WSU, Barton was selected as one of 220 student-athletes to attend the 2019-20 NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum that was to take place April 16-19 in Los Angeles. The annual event was started to create a collaboration between the leadership development and Division I, II, and III governance at the NCAA national office.