Chancellor Sean O’Keefe recognized this year’s 34 outstanding students at the annual Honors Convocation Friday in the Quad.

Students were judged in four primary fields: scholarship, leadership, University and community service and versatility of achievements.

One winner was selected in each classification from each of the University’s individual colleges.

The winners from each classification in the colleges were then placed in the pool for the overall competition.

The Chancellor’s Office, the Office of Academic Affairs and many other campus departments selected the winners.

As the deans of each college read the achievements of their students, University officials, friends and family looked on.

“I have the feeling of extreme inadequacy,” O’Keefe said in comparison to the students’ accomplishments.

Michael Tipton, a political science and history senior, was named the outstanding senior in the Honors College and outstanding overall senior.

Tipton was also awarded the Arden O. French Leadership Award — the University’s highest leadership honor for graduating seniors. Liza Ortego and Michael Busada were the other two finalists for the award.

Other overall student awards went to: Elizabeth Weiner, freshman, Cynthia Dubois, sophomore, and Michelle Gieg, junior.

The convocation has taken place on the last Friday in April since the late 1980s.

The event, originally hosted in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, was later moved to the Quad, the heart of the University’s academics.

Many of the students awarded this year’s prestigious titles were “no stranger to these ceremonies” joked Kevin Carman, dean of the College of Basic Sciences.

“These students, after all, exemplify what higher education is all about,” O’Keefe said.