This past weekend, on Saturday, April 3, the Honors College hosted its annual Senior Honors Recognition Ceremony for graduating Honors College seniors. In years past, the event has been an in-person luncheon, to which seniors bring their friends or families to celebrate their success in the Honors College. This spring, in light of the pandemic, the ceremony was entirely virtual. The event was introduced and hosted by the Dean of the Honors College, Dr. Alison Smith, and throughout the ceremony, all Honors College staff members congratulated graduating honors students on their accomplishments. Provost Melody Tankersley congratulated seniors, saying they have “made a mark on that will continue.” Dr. Tankersley also recognized the families of graduating honors seniors, thanking them for the support they give their students. Traditionally, the event presents the Distinguished Honors Faculty and Distinguished Honors Alumni awards. This year, academic director Frank Congin and Dr. Smith presented the 2021 recipient for each award, along with a segment honoring the award recipients from 2020, as the 2020 Senior Honors Luncheon was cancelled because of the pandemic. In the last section of the event, each Honors College academic advisor read the names of their graduating students, noting any students who completed a Senior Honors Thesis or who are members of Phi Beta Kappa, one of the most prestigious honors societies in the country. The event closed with Dean Smith’s congratulations to all the graduating honors seniors.
The acceptance speeches from Charlie Malone, this year’s Distinguished Honors Faculty award recipient, and Dr. Jessica Anderson Maisano, the 2021 Distinguished Honors Alumni award recipient, were particularly moving. Charles Malone’s accomplishments include Program Outreach Manager for the Wick Poetry Center, honors advisor, Freshman Honors Colloquium professor, and faculty advisor for the student-led honors creative magazine . In his acceptance of the Distinguished Honors Faculty award, Malone highlighted the openness that is central to higher education. He says, “This willingness to be exposed or vulnerable is exactly what allows us to learn and grow.”
Similarly, Dr. Maisano, this year’s Distinguished Honors Alumni award recipient, traces her success back to her openness to change in undergraduate school. During the first three years of her undergraduate career at , Dr. Maisano was a fashion merchandizing major “because it was practical,” but was not passionate about her studies. In the fall of her senior year, Dr. Maisano says, “My experience in the Honors College with the small, intimate classes, and the individualized attention . . . got me to thinking . . . and I decided to go for it and follow my heart.” Dr. Maisano’s heart led her to paleontology, a subject she had always been passionate about, but which she assumed would be impractical if she wanted to find a job after graduation. With the help of various faculty, Dr. Maisano changed her major to geology. This step led her to earn a PhD in vertebrate paleontology from Yale University, and landed her in a research position at the University of Texas, where she helped introduce CT scanning technology to the world of paleontology. As Dean Smith noted in her introduction of Dr. Maisano, “She changed her plans to fit her life goals.” This willingness to change her major in her senior year of college allowed Dr. Maisano to pursue “an incredibly rewarding career path,” and it is this kind of flexibility which Malone discussed in his own acceptance speech, arguing that flexibility leads to growth.
In keeping with this theme of flexibility, academic director Frank Congin notes some of the changes involved in this year’s recognition ceremony. As academic director, Congin oversaw this year’s event, organizing the video submissions and helping plan the online ceremony. One key change Congin notes is the naming of graduating Honors College students. In years past, one staff member would read all of the names of graduating seniors, but this year, to provide a more personal touch, each academic advisor in the Honors College read their own students’ names. Congin says this change will continue into future recognition ceremonies because the relationship students have with their advisors makes the reading of graduate names more meaningful. While Congin adds, “We lament that we can’t be together in person,” he does note that holding the graduation ceremony remotely makes it possible to record and preserve the event. Congin says that there is some talk of recording future in-person senior recognition events, as a result of this year’s virtual format.
Despite the challenging circumstances of the past year, Dean Smith highlights the success of Honors College students, saying, “Our students are engaged in majors across all of the colleges of the university, they are doers, they go places, they do great things, and they are agents for change.” This year’s Honors College seniors reached graduation despite a global pandemic, an accomplishment which well deserves a recognition ceremony. With this resilience, the graduating Honors College class of 2021 is prepared to successfully face the world ahead of them. Congratulations to all of the high-achieving 2021 Honors College graduates.
To view the virtual Senior Honors Recognition ceremony, please visit /honors/senior-honors-recognition.
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PHOTO CAPTION 1: Outside view of Johnson Hall and announcement of 35th annual Senior Honors Recognition Ceremony.
PHOTO CAPTION 2: The graduating class 2021 during their Honors College Move-In in 2017, their freshman year.
PHOTO CAPTION 3: Dean Alison Smith speaking at the 2021 Senior Honors Recognition Ceremony.
PHOTO CAPTION 4: Provost Melody Tankersley speaking at the 2021 Senior Honors Recognition Ceremony.
Media Contact: Stephanie Moskal, smoskal@kent.edu, 330-672-2312