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Christopher Newport University | May 2012 |
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Commencement on Saturday, May 12, 2012 was a great and glorious day -- sunshine and blue skies and graduation on the magnificent Great Lawn. Governor McDonnell underscored that CNU had prepared the graduates for excellence and urged them to "make things happen."
More than 10,000 family and friends joined the CNU family -- faculty, staff and students -- to celebrate the hard work and success of our graduates. In all, 1,145 degrees were conferred this year, and this is the largest graduating class in the history of CNU. |
Class of 2012 Endows Scholarship
My special thanks to the more than 300 members of the Class of 2012, their families and friends, and fellow CNU alumni who have donated over $41,000 to endow the Class of 2012 Scholarship.This scholarship will now be awarded every year to reward merit and provide financial assistance to students. There is no better way to say thank you and to empower the success of future Captains. |
First Class of Canon Leadership Scholars
This year marked the first graduating class of Canon Leadership Scholars.
Established by Canon U.S.A., Canon Virginia and CNU in 2007, this program rewards superior students from across the country and nurtures an appreciation for the art of leadership and the importance of citizenship.
Through a rigorous academic curriculum, prominent guest speakers, community service, study abroad and internships, these remarkable students are empowered to become caring, knowledgeable and effective leaders for America and the world.The Class of 2012 Canon Leadership Scholars
Ryan Adams Adam Baker Christina Brinkman Alexander Clark Leanna Cooper Matthew Davenport Nathan Davidson Hector Feliciano Ayala Kathryn Fitzgerald Adam Frost Daniel Gordon Caroline Green Brittany Haskell Chelsea Jones Letitia Juday Michael Kavros Aubrie Kiel William Kirk Zachary MacDonald Bret Marfut Alea Mayfield Katarina Nguyen* Evelyn Riley Joshua Rolon Mary Stratton Anna-Lisa Todd Matthew Ware *Class of 2013 (early graduation)
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Gregory Klich Award Winner Announced
The Gregory Klich Academic Achievement Award is given each year to the graduate who earns the highest grade-point average and who started and completed his or her academic career at CNU. The $2,000 annual award is given in honor of CNU distinguished alumnus Gregory Klich.
This year's winner is Marie Farley, who graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in American studies and minors in leadership studies and U.S. national security studies.
Marie participated in the President's Leadership Program and applied her knowledge and skills beyond the classroom as an American studies tutor and a resident assistant. She studied in Russia at Moscow State University as a Smithfield Leadership Scholar.
This fall she plans to attend Catholic University, where she will pursue a PhD program in politics.
We applaud Marie's many accomplishments and thank her for enriching our campus community.
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Students Make Impact in Community
The 2011-12 academic year saw countless Captains place service above self and give back to our community. I am pleased to report that this year our students logged nearly 44,000 hours with CNU's Center for Community Engagement (CCE). Their efforts directly benefited more than 100 local nonprofit organizations and schools, facilitated by the CCE through such programs as CNU's Bonner Service Scholars, the Presidents Leadership Program, service learning courses and AmeriCorps.
The dollar value of these volunteer hours is estimated at nearly $1 million, according to Independent Sector, a philanthropic leadership network, but the impact in the community is immeasurable.
Our students learned from and contributed to the lives of hundreds of local citizens in programs as diverse as teaching English and work skills to new immigrants, mentoring middle school children, helping run a local homeless shelter, and developing community education programs at area wetlands.
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Student Leadership Awards
Each year CNU proudly acknowledges the outstanding efforts of students, advisors and campus organizations at an elegant reception. Leadership and service in academic and co-curricular activities enrich the life of our campus and ensure an outstanding experience for all of our students. This very special evening in April culminated in the presentation of the Dean's Service Award to five seniors who have demonstrated exceptional service and leadership to our community and the University.
Our congratulations to all the honorees.
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Dean of Students Dr. Kevin Hughes presents the Dean's Service Award to Hector Feliciano-Ayala.
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Dean's Service Award
Adam Baker
Hector Feliciano-Ayala
Caroline Green
Stephanie Henderson
Jaymie Tetreault
Outstanding Student of the Year
Kevin Garcia
Silent Inspiration
Clinton Bronder
Laurel Manges
Campus-Wide Program of the Year
Campus Activities Board and Kappa Delta Rho "Alcohol, Parties and the Law"
Exceptional Organization Advisor
Jerrica Washington, Student Activities
Outstanding Community Outreach by an Individual
Meghan Magee
Outstanding Community Outreach by an Organization
Alpha Kappa Alpha
Outstanding Diversity Program Multicultural Student Association "Tresydivi" fashion showcase
Male Athlete Leader
Thomas Whaling, men's tennis
Female Athlete Leader
Stephanie Green, women's lacrosse
Student Development Award (Recreational Sports)
Anton Bowman
Student Leadership Award (Recreational Sports)
Shane Clary
Multicultural Student Association
"Is It in You" Award
Teri Buckman
Tyler Cleveland
Brionna Matthews
Ross Sylvesteri
President's Leadership Program
Servant Leader Award
Keldie Chewning
Alexandra Reiner
President's Leadership Program
Prizes for Best Essay on Leadership
Benjamin Howard
Hayden Johnson
Julia Niedermaier
Department of Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Kernodle Award for Excellence in Scholarship, Leadership and Service
Elise Borgese
Meghan Magee
Order of Omega Greek Man of the Year
Spencer Stanfield
Order of Omega Greek Woman of the Year
Sarah Peters
Order of Omega Chapter Advisor of the Year
Robert Corrie
Campus Activities Board Drive for Excellence Award
Dallas Peck
Congratulations to all the winners! You truly embody the Captain spirit and are an inspiration to all of us. Full descriptions of the awards are available online.
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Athletics Roundup
Captains Ranked No. 2 in the Nation For the second year in a row, the Captains are USA South Conference baseball champions and received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. CNU is ranked No. 2 in the nation and will host the NCAA South Regional Tournament May 16-19 at Captains Park.
In addition to the conference title, the Captains placed four players on this year's USA South Baseball Championship All-Tournament Team: pitcher Matt Verdillo ('13), outfielder Connor Madden ('12), shortstop Billy Steel ('14) and catcher Ben Lenda ('12), who was also named tournament MVP. Earlier this month junior Greg Goldsmith was named USA South Conference Pitcher of the Week after he pitched the Captains' first one-hitter in nearly 20 years. Goldsmith dazzled hitters in the game against Averett University, striking out six and preventing any runners from reaching second base. Hall Calls Athletic Director
Christopher Newport University Director of Athletics C.J. Woollum was inducted into the USA South Athletic Conference Hall of Fame last week. C.J. Woollum is a CNU icon who has had an illustrious career in NCAA Division III athletics. He has been an outstanding leader of our athletic programs, and enjoyed great success during his 26 years as head coach of the men's basketball team, surpassing the 500-win mark and leading the Captains to 17 NCAA tournament appearances.
Congratulations to C.J. and his family on this well-deserved recognition, and we applaud his many contributions to the success of CNU and our student-athletes.
| Photo: Bucknell Athletics |
New Women's Basketball Coach Named I'm pleased to announce the hiring of Bill Broderick as new head women's basketball coach. Broderick sports an impressive 19-year coaching resume and comes to CNU from Division I Bucknell University, where he served as assistant coach for two seasons, and was interim head coach at the end of last season. He was an assistant at the University of Arizona from 1995-98, winning the 1996 WNIT Championship and reaching the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1998. Prior to his time at Bucknell, Broderick was recruiting coordinator and assistant coach under CNU alumna Karen Barefoot at Elon University. Under Coach Broderick's leadership, I'm confident the Captains will enjoy great success.
Assistant Coach Louis Johnson presents Richard Roethel with the trophy for Mason-Dixon Field Athlete of the Year. |
Captain Wins at Prestigious Penn Relays Junior Richard Roethel won the gold medal in the decathlon at the 2012 Penn Relays at the University of Pennsylvania last month. He won five of the 10 events and bested the second place finisher by a score of 6,971 to 6,227.
The Penn Relays were first held in 1895 and are the largest annual track and field meet in the United States and the largest annual relay meet in the world. Over the course of three days, 19,000 athletes from all levels competed in front of 115,000 spectators.
Earlier this year, Roethel was crowned the 2012 NCAA Division III national champion in the heptathlon and was named the national Men's Field Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. He also won the Mason-Dixon Conference Field Athlete of the Year Award (pictured above).Field Hockey to Make Olympic Journey In July the CNU field hockey team will journey to London for the 2012 Olympics. The team has been busy over the last four years raising nearly $100,000 for the trip. The Captains will attend men's and women's field hockey matches during the Olympic games, play exhibition games against international opponents, and spend time sightseeing in the United Kingdom.
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Famed Web Comic Returns to CNU
This spring we welcomed alumnus Randall Munroe
('06), creator of the popular Web comic "xkcd," back to campus. Munroe addressed fans from across Hampton Roads who packed the Ferguson Center Concert Hall to hear him speak about his life and career as a humorist. He also discussed memories from his time at CNU, where he drew many of his early comics.
A physics major who also interned at NASA during his time here, Munroe often draws on his scientific background when creating comics. On his website he describes "xkcd" as "a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language."
The comic has earned mention in both The Guardian and The New York Times. In 2011 Munroe was runner-up for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist, given annually by the World Science Fiction Convention for the best contributions to the genre. |
The Month in Photos
This is the last newsletter until the fall, and includes a photo gallery of images of exciting events from the past month.
In closing, I wanted to share some exciting news we've learned about our incoming and returning students.
More than 1,400 students have paid their deposits and confirmed a seat in next year's freshman class. This will be the largest and academically the best-qualified class in the history of CNU. In addition, we expect to achieve a freshman-sophomore retention rate approaching 90 percent, the highest rate in our history. Such an achievement places CNU in the ranks of America's best schools. Finally, I commend to you an excellent front page article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch about CNU's transformation. I wish everyone in the CNU family an enjoyable and safe summer. See you in the fall!
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