Jamestown student Terrica Stoppleworth earns Dickinson State communication honor

Terrica Stoppleworth of Jamestown earned a Recognition of Excellence in Communication from Dickinson State University after the fall 2025 semester, a nod that points to more than classroom grades. The honor marks students who showed a high level of achievement in communication-related courses, placing Stoppleworth among the Dickinson State students whose work stood out in writing, speaking and presentation.

Dickinson State’s Office of Academic Affairs awards the recognition to students in all disciplines, not just communication majors. To qualify, students must earn an A or B in College Composition I, College Composition II and Fundamentals of Public Speaking, the courses listed as ENGL 110, ENGL 120 and COMM 110. That makes the honor a clear academic marker: it reflects steady performance in the classes that test whether a student can write clearly, speak confidently and organize ideas in a way others can use.

For Stoppleworth, the distinction is also a hometown story. A Jamestown student being recognized by a North Dakota university adds another local example of a resident succeeding in a setting where communication skills carry weight far beyond campus. Those same skills matter in college courses, but they also carry into jobs, volunteer work and community leadership back in Jamestown, where listening, writing and public speaking often decide who can lead a meeting, explain an idea or represent a group well.

The recognition also shows how Dickinson State uses smaller academic honors to spotlight student work that can otherwise go unnoticed outside campus circles. In spring 2022, the university said 47 students received the same distinction, underscoring that this is an established award and part of a broader academic pattern at the university in Dickinson. Stoppleworth’s name now joins that list, with the recognition serving as a measurable sign of success in a discipline that touches nearly every field.

For Jamestown, the honor is a reminder that student achievement does not always arrive as a championship banner or a headline-grabbing competition result. Sometimes it comes in the form of strong grades in composition and public speaking, and a university notice that a local student has done the work to earn it.