OLD DOMINION STUDENT CHOSEN FOR COVER OF NATIONAL MAGAZINE

Old Dominion University senior Sharifa Charlery, a native of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, is featured on the cover of the spring edition of Student Leader magazine, available to students and administrators at more than 1,000 colleges nationwide, including Old Dominion.

The cover photo, which was taken by University Photographer Chuck Thomas, and the story can be viewed at the magazine's Web site: http://www.studentleader.com.

Charlery, 21, was chosen for her "impressive academic record" and her involvement in a variety of extracurricular activities on the Old Dominion campus, according to the magazine's publishers. Candidates submitted resumes to the magazine and the finalists took part in a series of interviews.

In addition to maintaining a 3.51 grade point average in her biology studies, Charlery helped organize the upcoming Sisterhood 2000 Project, a one-day conference addressing the needs of African-American female college students. The event, modeled after the university's annual Black Male Summit, will include workshops on spirituality, life after college and how to get into graduate school.

Charlery also is parliamentarian of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and vice chair of the Caucus for Students of African Descent. The caucus, made up of all black student organizations, plans to focus on issues relevant to those groups. In addition, she is an Old Dominion Student Ambassador and serves as the group's publicity chair.

After graduation in May, Charlery will choose between medical school and pursuing a master's degree in higher education administration.