Nothing was going to stop Adoris M. Gibbs from accomplishing her goals as a Clark Atlanta University student.  Not people telling her that she was taking on too much with being a track and field athlete, majoring in both history and mass media arts, and all of her volunteer activities.
 
She has a much more important goal that must be reached.
 
"My mom always told me that your actions are not your own," said Gibbs, one of six co-valedictorians in the CAU Class of 2021.  "So in pursuing my actions of my own, I knew that in the end, I want to make positive action for my community.   So the trajectory for me to get there was to be a student-athlete, was to be a double major.  It just so happened that being a valedictorian just came with it.  I just had to go for it and grind."
 
Gibbs, who graduated this past Saturday afternoon, finished with a perfect 4.0 grade point average.   She is the second CAU student-athlete in the past five years to be named a valedictorian.  Former CAU football kicker Austin Casillas was valedictorian of the Class of 2016.

 "This is the culmination of four years of hard work on and off the field," said her track and cross country head coach, Pamela Page. "As a student-athlete Adoris has achieved academic honors through athletics the last two years, (prior to Covid shut down).  She has been honored by the CAU Athletic Department as the Scholar-Athlete of the Year in addition to being honored by the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference as a first-team All-Academic honoree, so this was not unexpected, but most deserving.  I look forward to her having a bright and successful future."

The middle-distance runner on the Lady Panther track team has been a CAU Athletics Scholar Athlete every semester she has been at CAU.  The department has twice named Gibbs the Scholar-Athlete of the Year.  
 
On the track this year, Gibbs was part of a top-ten placing 4x400 meter relay team at the Hilltop Relays in Birmingham, Ala., and the CAU Panther Invitational at Panther Stadium. Gibbs has also been a three-year member of the CAU Lady Panthers Cross Country team.

Off the track, Gibbs was a member of the Isabella T. Jenkins Honors and Scholars Program; a leader in the Office of Religious Life's Clark Atlanta University Soul Experience (CAUSE) program; the CAU Heavenly Divine Dance Ministry; a yearbook editor, peer tutor and freshman class president.
 
But what is most important to Gibbs is her service to the community.  Gibbs has been a volunteer for the SPARC program, and served as a volunteer coach at the local YMCA.
 
She also has served the Atlanta homeless community, passed out community care packages, provided tools and resources to register people to vote, particularly with her own campaigns, "Turn Up Tuesday," and "I Love My Country, So I Vote."
 
"Adoris Gibbs created a new formula for success," said CAU Athletic Director Dr. J Lin Dawson.  Add two varsity sports per year, plus majoring in two academic disciplines, plus serving as a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, plus campus activities, plus a heavy dosage of community service, and what do you get? Adoris' formula for success landed her the distinction of co-valedictorian. 
 
"Her influence will be felt at CAU for may years to come," he said.  "She is a remarkable young woman."
 
Her hard work is for one huge purpose, she said.
 
"My long-term goal is I definitely want to be in politics. I want to be a changemaker," Gibbs said.  "I want to have a positive impact on my community, trying to break down the capitalism of our prison system, make people aware of their history… That is just a few things that I want to do, that I think our community needs to make positive change."
 
To get there, Gibbs is hoping to go to law school either this fall or next fall, or work for a marketing firm that focuses on non-profit work for social good.
 
"So, I know whatever route I take, whether that's law school this fall or next fall or taking on this job in this marketing company, I know I'm making a positive impact on my community and it's a positive step forward towards my ultimate career goal," she said.
 
Gibbs not only fondly looks back fondly at her "quiet grind," but credits her entire CAU family for all that she has achieved.
 
"I know I just proved to myself and others that you can do it if you want something," she said.  "You just got to put your mind to it and go for it.  All I can do is thank God and my family and my village at CAU.  I was the one who took the tests and wrote the papers, but it was definitely the village that kept me on the right track and kept me focused."