BATON ROUGE — A LaPlace student is one of four graduates awarded the Distinguished Communicator Award during Louisiana State University’s 291st commencement exercises.

English literature student Chelsea LeBlanc earned the honor by meeting high standards set by faculty in various colleges and by the LSU Communication Across the Curriculum Department.

The students earned high grade-point averages in communication-intensive courses — based on written, spoken, visual and technological communication — and built digital portfolios displayed as public websites, which included their communication projects from courses, internships, leadership roles and public service.

The LSU Distinguished Communicator program was created in 2006 to enhance learning experiences for LSU students and support the improvement of students’ communication skills.