GEORGETOWN, Texas - Senior men's tennis player, D'Artagnan Bebel, has earned the 2011 Academic Internship Student Achievement Award from the Cooperative Education and Internship Association (CEIA) for his outstanding work with Fleishman-Hilliard and the Port of Houston Authority. Bebel is the third Southwestern student to earn this national award in the past six years.

Bebel will receive the award at the CEIA's annual meeting in San Antonio April 10. The award comes with a $500 prize.

Bebel was selected to receive the award for work he did as an intern in the Public Affairs Division of the Port of Houston Authority. Bebel interned with the Port Authority in the summer of 2009 and helped with media relations, government relations and event planning. The internship was only supposed to be for a summer, but Bebel was asked by the Port Authority to stay through the fall term to continue working on his projects. His work included creating and launching the Port's first-ever social media campaign. Bebel has continued to work for the Port Authority as a social media consultant.

Bebel began doing internships before he even enrolled at Southwestern. The summer before his first year, he helped manage projects for The Woodlands Operating Company in his hometown of The Woodlands. In the summer of 2010, Bebel did a third internship with the Houston office of Fleishman-Hillard, an international public relations firm. He did strategic planning, strategic communications and event planning.

Bebel is the third Southwestern student to receive this national award in the past six years. Mindy Smotherman received the award in 2006 for her work as an intern with the U.S. Department of State and Caitlin Cooper received the award in 2008 for her work as an intern with National Instruments. No other school has had more than one student receive this award. No other school has had more than one student receive this award.

Maria Kruger, internship coordinator in Career Services, said Bebel's performance in the classroom and in the community also was a factor in his being selected for the award.

Bebel has been the captain of the men's tennis team for the past three years and received All-SCAC Honorable Mention in 2008 and 2010 for play over the entire season. In 2010, he was named to the All-Tournament team for the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference in singles and doubles, the only Southwestern tennis player to accomplish this recognition during the season. Bebel also had made the SCAC Spring Student-Athlete Academic Honor Roll in 2009 and 2010. He has helped promote the game of tennis through the Georgetown Tennis Center's Quickstart Program, a program of the United States Tennis Association (USTA) designed to encourage and teach the game of tennis to children ten and under. 

Bebel also has been involved with the African-American student organization, EBONY, is a member of Student Congress and has been inducted into Lambda Pi Eta National Communication Studies Honor Society.

While at his internship in Houston, Bebel helped organize several community events for Port Authority employees and volunteered regularly as a classroom teacher through the Junior Achievement, Inc. program.

"D'Art is selfless, dedicated and mature beyond his years," Kruger said. "His enthusiasm and positive attitude are just some of his many talents. His ability to earn the respect of his peers and of faculty and staff illustrates his strong interpersonal skills and genuine interest in making a positive impact in his community. I cannot think of a more deserving student to be recognized as the winner of the CEIA's Academic Intern of the Year Award."