She was also the valedictorian. Mack, from New Castle, was one of four 20-year-old students to receive a degree during the ceremony at Alumni Stadium, and she was one of three to finish with a 4.0 grade-point average. Mack was named valedictorian because she had a higher number of classes than Nicole Fwelo of Lexington and Joseph Greenwood of Cookeville, Tennessee, who each earned a 4.0 GPA. During her commencement speech, Mack thanked the KSU faculty for ârelationships formed and information learned that will last a lifetime.â She also thanked her mother for never setting limits on what she could achieve. âI donât think she ever realized the person I most wanted to be like was her,â Mack said.