SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Southern Conference announced its ten postgraduate scholarship recipients for the 2014-15 academic year Monday. The ten student-athletes will be honored for their accomplishments at the Southern Conference Honors Dinner in Hilton Head Island, S.C., on Wednesday, May 27. Justin Whitaker from the Wofford men's cross country and track and field teams is among the ten recipients.
 
This year's honorees include: Dave Hart Graduate Scholarship recipient Justin Whitaker (Wofford); Dorothy Hicks Graduate Scholarship recipient Michaela Reesor (Samford); David Knight Graduate Scholarship recipient India Robinson (Furman); Bob McCloskey Insurance Graduate Scholarship recipients Adam Chase (ETSU) and Mariana Garcia Torres (The Citadel); William Moore Graduate Scholarship presented by McMillan Pazdan Smith recipient Makensey Campbell (Western Carolina); Southern Conference Presidential Scholarship recipients Aleshia Reese (Western Carolina) and Alyssa Althoff (Furman); and Mike Wood Graduate Scholarship recipients H. Kirkpatrick "K.P." Hicks (Western Carolina) and Hannah Dickinson (VMI).
 
The recipients are nominated by their schools and selected by the Southern Conference Graduate Scholar Committee. The scholarships, worth $2,000 each, are awarded to student-athletes about to receive their undergraduate degrees who intend to pursue advanced degrees in graduate or professional school. The student-athletes are evaluated on academics, athletics and community service.
 
Justin Whitaker, Wofford – Dave Hart Graduate Scholar
Wofford distance runner Justin Whitaker is the 2015 recipient of the Dave Hart Graduate Scholarship. A member of both the cross country and track and field teams, Whitaker has been a part of two school records in track, running legs of the Terriers' record-setting 4x400-meter relay in the 2014 outdoor season and the distance medley relay at the 2014 SoCon Indoor Track and Field Championships. Whitaker, who aspires to become a meteorologist, is double-majoring in physics and mathematics and holds a 4.0 GPA. He was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa honor society in 2014 and earned honorable mention from the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation. He has also earned an American Meteorological Society Named Scholarship and was a CoSIDA Academic All-District IV selection in 2014. An active member of Wofford's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Whitaker has mentored autistic children and served as a teacher's aide at McCarthy Teszler School, a school in Spartanburg, S.C., for children with special needs. Whitaker, who has had weather-related internships with CBS Atlanta, Texas A&M and Penn State, plans to pursue a doctorate in atmospheric science.