Students awarded Chieftain, departmental awards at Lycoming College Honors Convocation

Lycoming College named Preston Rogers ’23 the recipient of the Chieftain Award during the College’s annual Honors Convocation ceremony. Held on Sunday, April 23, at Williamsport’s Community Arts Center, event was open to students, families, faculty, and staff. Rogers was recognized for his leadership and advocacy for student health, his passion in tutoring his fellow students, and great amount of volunteer work.

First presented in 1952, the Chieftain Award is the highest honor given to a graduating senior who has contributed the most to Lycoming College through support of school activities, has exhibited utmost dedication and outstanding leadership qualities, has evidenced good moral character, and whose academic rank is above the median of the preceding senior class.

Rogers is a biology major who earned a spot on Lycoming College’s dean list and the Scholars Program all four years of his attendance. His demonstrated excellence in biology awarded him the Lycoming College S-STEM Scholarship, along with both the M.B. Endowed Prize for Freshmen and Freshman Biology Award during his first year. Along with that, he qualified for the Joanne and Arthur Haberberger Fellowship Program and spent significant time tutoring biology students.

Furthermore, Rogers is involved in numerous community service projects on and off campus, including working as a lab assistant for Mary Morrison, Ph.D., in her research lab, for Lycoming College Athletics, and more than 80 hours in the UPMC’s emergency department in Williamsport. He also participated in several service-learning opportunities, studying in the Microbial Friends and Foes Research Experience in the Rudd Lab at Cornell University over the summer of 2022, and working as a Personal Care Aide/Med Tech at the Towanda Personal Care Home where he provided care to over 75 residents.

Lycoming extends its congratulations to Rogers and all of the Chieftain nominees, including Gricelda Arredondo ’23, a chemistry major with a minor in physics; Harshita Bandhu ’23, a triple major in actuarial science, mathematics, and quantitative economics; Rosemary Tovar ’23, a film and video arts major with minors in photography and business administration; and Emma Wolfe ‘23, a major in managerial economics and international studies double major with a minor in German.

During the ceremony, Lycoming College also recognized a number of remarkable students who attained high levels of academic achievement and scholarship during the 2022-23 academic year. Those recognized include:

Accounting

• Durant L. Furey III Award – Rachel Szczypinski ’23
• The Charles J. Kocian Award – Kevin Hernandez Pucuna ’24
• Wehr Financial Accounting Prize – Rachel Szczypinski ’23
• Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP Prize for Tax Accounting – Rachel Szczypinski ’23
• The Professor Logan A. Richmond Accounting Prize – Rachel Szczypinski ’23

Anthropology/Sociology

• Durkheim Prize in Sociology – Alondra Garcia ’23
• Durkheim Prize in Anthropology – Christopher Alvarado ’24

Archaeology

• Faculty Prize for excellence in Archaeology – Briana Bell ’23

Art

• Award for Excellence in Sculpture – Kellyn Thomas ’24
• Faculty Award for Excellence in Photography – Aicha Toure ’23
• Roger D. Shipley Award – Kellyn Thomas ’24
• Digital Art Award – Kellyn Thomas ’24

Astronomy/Physics

• Fundamentals of Physics Award – Ashley Yoh ’25
• Principles of Astronomy Award – Zoie Dodson ’26
• Q.E.D. Award for Department Service – Amber Elinsky ’23
• Фυσίκα Award in Astronomy/Physics – Cameron Forney ’23, Maha Soojaysingh Jhugaroo ’23, Sylphrena Kleinsasser ’23, Priktish Rao Suntoo ’23

Biology

• Biology Department Academic Excellence Award – Preston Rogers ’23
• Biology Service Award – Evelyn Cronise ’23
• Freshman Biology Award – Cameron Upcraft ’26, Abigail Umhoefer ’26

Business Administration

• The Financial Management Award – Abigail Traxler ’23
• The General Management Award – Terence O’Connor ’23
• The John G. Hollenback Award – Abigail Traxler ’23
• The Marketing Management Award – Michael Coe ’23
• The Charles J. Kocian Award – Kaleigh Kinley ’23

Chemistry

• American Chemical Society Outstanding Chemistry Major Award – Jesus Vazquez Hernandez ’23
• The A.I.C. Student Honor Award – Gricelda Arredondo ’23
• Trask Chemistry Prize – Josue Urbina Monterroso ’23
• Byron C. Brunstetter Science Award – Zeid Dowlut ’23

Corporate Communication

• The Department Award in Media Literacy – Patrick O’Reilly ’23

Economics

• The 2023 Economics Excellence Award – Logan Rakestraw ’25
• The 2023 Robert W. Rabold Economics Excellence Award – Nidhi Ramburuth ’24, Dominick Philip ’24
• The 2023 Roger W. Opdahl Economics Excellence Award – Charles Hunt ’23
• The Charles J. Kocian Award – John Confair ’23, Derek Lewis ’23
• The John A. Streeter Memorial Award in Economics – Harshita Bandhu ’23, Rafael Lubiano Rodriguez ’23

Education

• Leadership Award in Education – Garrett Lee ’23, Daniel Cantafio ’23, Miriam Carrizales Lopez ’23

English

• Dan Gustafson Award – Abigail Mooneyhan ’23
• The Metzler Prize – Sarah Lanphear ’25
• The Phoebe R. Lyon Prize – Caleb Hipple ’23
• The President's Prize in Poetry – Caleb Hipple ’23
• The G.W. Hawkes Prize in Prose – Abigail Mooneyhan ’23

Film and Video Arts

• Faculty Excellence Award – Rosemary Tovar ’23
• Film and Video Arts Award – Nonni Human ’24, Achilles Wice ’24

Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies

• Holly Elizabeth Hurlbert ’97 Endowed Fund in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies – Alexandra Jones ’25

History

• Richard L. Mix '51 and Miriam S. Mix Research and Writing Prize in History – Briana Bell ’23
• Robert Ewing Senior Prize in History – John Fulmer ’23
• Larson Morris Piper History Fellowship – Michael Hummel ’25

Humanities Research Center

• The best paper from a Lycoming student for the Undergraduate Humanities Research Conference – Jeovannee Castillo ’23

Mathematics

• The Benjamin C. Conner Prize in Mathematics – Samantha Caseman ’24
• The Charles J. Kocian Award in Actuarial Science – Jordan Kinley ’23
• The Charles J. Kocian Award in Computer Science – Sylvia Robinson ’23
• The Elisha Benson Kline Prize – Derek Lewis ’23, Priktish Suntoo ’23
• The J. W. Feree Award – Kaitlyn Haefner ’24

Modern Language Studies

• Phil G. Gillette Prize in Modern Foreign Languages (French) – Maya Jenkins ’23
• Phil G. Gillette Prize in Modern Foreign Languages (German) – Charles Hunt ’23
• Phil G. Gillette Prize in Modern Foreign Languages (Spanish) – Miriam Carrizales Lopez ’23
• The Emilia Pardo Bazán Prize in Critical Writing – Mariah Rovenolt ’23
• Paul A. MacKenzie Discovery Prize – Noah Huffman ’26

Music

• Dr. Will George Butler Band Award – Adin Hinojosa ’25
• Michelle Bohlin Award in Theater & Music – Reid Orphan ’24
• The William T. and Ruth S. Askey Music Prize – Kaitlyn Kratzer ’23
• The Williamsport Civic Chorus Award – Laura Ulrich ’24
• Dr. Will George Butler Choir Award – Kaitlyn Haefner ’24

Philosophy

• Arthur Faus Memorial Prize – Morgan Clouser ’23

Political Science

• The C. Daniel Little '53 and Jeanne Louise Little '82 Award in American Politics – Isabelle Thomas ’23
• Richard L. Mix '51 and Miriam S. Mix Prize in Political Science – Nidhi Ramburuth ’24
• The Charles J. Kocian Award – Margaret Jenkins ’23

Psychology

• Milton Skeath Award in Psychology – Kali Kilpatrick ’23
• Psi Chi Service Award – Gabriella Postlethwait ’23

Religion

• Eduardo Guerra Prize in Biblical Languages – Dominic Holder ’24

Theatre

• Overall Excellence in Theatre Award – Sadie Bossons ’23
• Theatre Performance/Directing Award – Hannah Defrates ’23
• Theatre Design/Technical/Management Award – Emma Klopp ’23