Corban Williams, senior at Paducah Tilghman High School, has been named a Semifinalist in the 2024 United States Presidential Scholars Program by the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars and the United States Department of Education.
Of the nearly 3.6 million high school seniors graduating this year, approximately 6,000 from across the country were selected to participate in the prestigious recognition program and out of those, only 625 have advanced to the Semifinalist level. Only nine Kentucky high school seniors have been designated Semifinalists and Corban is one of only two selected from western Kentucky.
In mid-May, up to 161 of the Semifinalists, including one male and one female from each state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and from families of U.S. citizens living abroad, will be named U.S. Presidential Scholars. These students will be recognized at the White House later this summer.
The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964 by executive order of the President to recognize and honor some of the nation's most distinguished high school seniors. Students are selected based on academic success, leadership, and service to school and community. This program has been described as one of the nation’s highest honors for students in the U.S.
Corban is an AP Scholar, an alumnus of the Kentucky Governor's Scholars Program, and a recipient of the Centre College Fellow award and scholarship. He’s also been named a Rotary Student of the Month. He’s a member of the National Honor Society and Beta Club, and is Co-Captain of the Tilghman Cross Country Team. He has individually placed locally and regionally numerous times while on the Cross Country Team, and was named to the All-District Team. This past season, he and his team won the 2A Regional Championship and took third place at the 2A State Championship.
He’s an inaugural member of Tilghman’s Student Equity Advisory Council (SEAC) and serves as a leader and moderator for community, teacher, and student SEAC forums. In 2022, he was a member of the student cohort that met with MCHS leaders to discuss and propose mutually agreeable solutions for addressing racially charged events.
Corban’s artwork was accepted last year for display in Yeiser Art Center’s regional Teen Spirit exhibit and competition. He’s an employee of Strickland’s Seafood Restaurant and a member of Reidland Church.
He is the son of Randi and Andrew Williams.
“Corban is an outstanding young man with amazing talent: academically, athletically, socially and emotionally. His leadership ability and aptitude to function as a leader with phenomenal student voice across many diverse populations of people in the community and amongst staff and students is commendable,” said Shonda Hollowell, Chief Equity Officer of Paducah Public Schools. “Being a SEAC advisor for the last two years and watching him function in a leadership role without the title is a sentiment to him not being a stranger to hard work and focused advocacy for the silenced voices. He is a most deserving candidate for the US Presidential Scholars Program.”