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Student Standouts
Recent accomplishments include undergraduate research recognition, community service awards, academic and study away scholarships
By Staff | April 22, 2015
Virginia Wesleyan students are intellectual leaders in the classroom and community leaders on campus. Every day, they push limits to achieve the extraordinary. Here are some of their most recent accomplishments:
Seth Antozzi ’17
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ernest F. Hollings Scholarship
Sophomore Seth Antozzi, a mathematics major who is also taking courses in earth and environmental sciences and economics, has been awarded a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ernest F. Hollings Scholarship. Hollings Scholars receive academic assistance of up to $8,000 per year during their junior and senior years, in addition to a full-time summer internship at a NOAA facility. Awards also include travel funds to attend a NOAA Scholarship Program orientation and conferences where students present a paper or poster. In his application essay, Antozzi wrote about his interest in using mathematical models to better understand the economic impacts of severe weather.
Mindy Bertram ’15
2015 Campus Compact Newman Civic Fellow
Nominated by President Billy Greer, VWC senior Mindy Bertram has been named a 2015 Campus Compact Newman Civic Fellows Award recipient, recognized for her public involvement and motivation to create lasting change. Her nomination indicates that she is "a leader who inspires not only other students, but also the entire campus and community." She joins a group of 201 student leaders from colleges nationwide. Going forward, Bertram will take advantage of online and in-person networking opportunities, including state and regional conferences. Read more about Bertram’s award at www.compact.org.
Sydney Covey ’15
Society for Advancement of Management National Student Achievement Award
Senior Sydney Covey recently received two awards from the Society for Advancement of Management (SAM)—a Student Achievement Award and a National Student Achievement Award. The awards were presented at the annual SAM International Business Conference in Las Vegas (March 26-29), where Covey presented her research paper, "The Relationship Between Managerial Orientation and Productivity: An Examination of Captains from Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch," which she co-wrote with VWC business professor Paul Ewell. Covey will present her research again at this year’s Undergraduate Research Symposium (April 27-May 1).
Tim Gunn ’15
Tina Aldrich Memorial Scholarship
Recreation and leisure studies major Tim Gunn ’15, recipient of the inaugural Tina Aldrich Memorial Scholarship, is set to complete his senior internship at the Ahih-Kina'u Natural Area Reserve in Maui during summer 2015. He will work closely with the reserve staff to develop volunteer education programs and enact the invasive wildlife management plan created in conjunction with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The internship would not have been possible without the generosity of those who contributed to the Tina Aldrich Memorial Scholarship, established in fall 2014 in memory of Assistant Professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies Dr. Tina Aldrich, who passed away from a rare form of uterine cancer in December 2013. Dr. Aldrich’s wife, Dawn Gaimaro, awarded Gunn with the scholarship in a special ceremony on October 30, 2014.
Trey White ’17
VFIC/ALTRIA Leadership Scholarship Award
Sophomore Trey White has received a 2015 VFIC/Altria Leadership Scholarship administered by the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges. He is a business major aspiring to become an accountant and a member of the VWC Track & Field Team. This prestigious award provides $10,000 in scholarship funding—$5,000 for the student’s junior year and an additional $5,000 for their senior year. “Wherever he finds himself, Trey successfully balances the demands of academic and organizational commitments,” VWC President Billy Greer wrote in White’s nomination letter. “His academic accomplishments are of paramount importance to him.”
Society for Collegiate Journalists National Contest Awards
Virginia Wesleyan College’s student-led newspaper The Marlin Chronicle received awards in nine categories in the Society for Collegiate Journalists 2015 National Contest, including third place in its category for Overall Newspaper Excellence (less than weekly); Front Page (design and content); Editorial Page (design and content); News Page; Photo Essays; Sports Features; Sports Columns; Feature Photography; and Sports Photography. Individual VWC student award winners included Aoife Branco; Douglas Hardman; Kellie Lagoy; Jessica Mackey; Thomas Mills; Kayla Skeete; and Kerri-Leanne Taylor. Among the contest judges were a former director of photography for Newsweek and a former photography editor for Sports Illustrated.
2015 Virginias Collegiate Honors Council Spring Conference
Five Virginia Wesleyan students presented at the 2015 Virginias Collegiate Honors Council Spring Conference April 10-11 at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. To date, this is the largest contingent VWC has taken to the VCHC regional conference, with five students presenting four projects: Morgan Stroyeck: “It isn’t a love story, It’s a hate story”: Intertexuality and feminine sacrifice in Wuthering Heights and the Twilight Saga; Jennifer Panton: Religion and female gender role reversals in Sri Lankan civil war media; Sydney Covey: Productivity: An examination of captains from DiscoveryChannel’s Deadliest Catch; and Kevin Wolfe and Alex McComb: Does saying “No sex” make states less safe? An empirical study on sex education utilizing the Donohue and Levitt mechanism. The conference is a forum for honors students from institutions in Virginia and West Virginia to network and present their scholarly work publicly.
Virginia Psychological Association Conference Presentations and Frederick B. Rowe Award for the Best Undergraduate Paper
Virginia Wesleyan students and alumni presented original research at the Virginia Psychological Association Spring Convention & Educational Conference April 15-17 in Virginia Beach. Courtney Jones (see photo) received the Frederick B. Rowe Award for the Best Undergraduate Paper for her presentation: "The Influence of Source Credibility and Contextual Support on Interpretation of Misinformation." She will present her research again at this year’s Undergraduate Research Symposium Kickoff Event on April 27. Other VWC presenters included Brianne Cork: "A study of the relationship between religious salience, forgiveness motivations, and life satisfaction" (poster); Amelia Dodson: "Mindfulness: Impacts of health and study habits" (poster); Jordan Stellmacher: "Effects of parental divorce on children as young adults" (paper); and Jenny Wilkins: "Body image, eating attitudes, and pressure on female college students" (poster). Psychology professors Taryn Myers and Craig Jackson attended the conference alongside the students and recent graduates.