HONORS AND AWARDS
RECOGNIZING STUDENTS WHO DEMONSTRATE ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AND ENRICH CAMPUS LIFE
Edson Auditorium
Edward J. and Helen Jane
Morrison Performing Arts Center Student Center
Friday, May 10, 2024, 6 p.m.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
By offering this land acknowledgment, we affirm tribal sovereignty, express respect for Native peoples and nations, encourage understanding of our tuition waiver, and invite others to do the same. The University of Minnesota Morris is located along the river called Owobopte Wakpa by the Dakota people—a place from which Dakota turnips have been dug river—and Opinikani Zibi by the Anishinaabe—the place of wild potatoes river. These lands on the edge of mashkode akiing—prairie land—have been cared for and called home by the Dakota people, and later the Ojibwe people and other Native peoples, from time immemorial. Our state’s name, Minnesota, comes from the Dakota name for this region, Mni Sota Makoce—the land where the waters reflect the skies.
Before there was a University of Minnesota presence here, the site housed an American Indian boarding school established in 1887 by the Sisters of Mercy community of the Catholic Church under contract with the United States government. The United States government began directly operating the Morris Industrial School for Indians on this site in 1897; one building from the school remains on campus. Sixteen American Indian boarding schools in Minnesota and hundreds across the country separated children from their families and attempted to eliminate Native languages and cultures, with intergenerational impacts still felt across Indian Country. UMN Morris has joined the National Boarding School Healing Coalition and sought Dakota and Anishinaabe leaders’ guidance to bring greater truth telling, understanding, change, and healing regarding this history and the boarding school era.
In 1909, the federal government closed the school, transferring the campus and buildings to the State of Minnesota. The federal legislation and corresponding state statute stipulated that American Indian students be admitted to future educational institutions on the site “on terms of equality” with other students and “free of charge for tuition.” This federal mandate has its roots in treaty law and has been UMN Morris policy since our establishment as the University’s public liberal arts campus in 1960.
Acknowledging the land and our history in this place is an offering of solidarity with and respect for Native nations and peoples. In doing so, we reaffirm our commitment to our responsibilities rooted in this place and in the history of our campus site as a Native American boarding school, our distinctive mission as a public liberal arts college within Minnesota’s land-grant university, and our federal recognition as a Native AmericanServing Nontribal Institution—the only four-year NASNTI university in the Upper Midwest.
Today, this region’s Dakota, Ojibwe, and other Native peoples are recognized as leaders in rebuilding Native Nations and reclaiming Indigenous lifeways. More than 300 Native American students from 68 Tribal Nations live and learn at UMN Morris.
We are committed to creating a university where Native American students can increasingly share, connect with, and deepen their knowledge of Indigenous peoples, nations, tribes, languages, sovereignty, and lifeways; where Native cultures are more present and reflected in campus life; and where all members of our community benefit from greater knowledge and understanding regarding our shared histories and the people indigenous to this place.
2024 HONORS AND AWARDS
Recognizing students who demonstrate academic excellence and enrich campus life
WELCOME AND LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Peh Ng, acting vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean
OPENING ADDRESS
2024 University of Minnesota Morris Alumni Association Teaching Award Recipient introduction by Peh Ng, acting vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean remarks by Khondoker “Ahnaf” Prio ’19, president of the alumni association
The professor recognized for outstanding contributions to undergraduate education through teaching, research and artistic activities, advising, academic program development, and educational leadership is invited to give the opening address.
Stephen Burks, professor of economics and business & management
CHANCELLOR’S AWARD
presented by Janet Schrunk Ericksen, chancellor
Presented annually to an outstanding senior on the basis of academic excellence and contribution to campus life, the chancellor of the University of Minnesota Morris makes the Chancellor’s Award selection after consulting with various campus groups.
Richard Walter Lange ’24
CURTIS H. LARSON AWARD
presented by Janet Schrunk Ericksen, chancellor
The Curtis H. Larson Award is conferred upon the graduate chosen as senior class speaker. The selection is made by faculty and graduating seniors. The award was established in memory of the late Curtis Larson, the University of Minnesota Morris’s first class speaker in 1964.
Kianna LaRae Big Crow ’24
FULBRIGHT SEMIFINALIST
recognized by Janet Schrunk Ericksen, chancellor
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is the largest United States exchange program offering opportunities for students and young professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and primary and secondary school teaching worldwide. The program awards grants annually in all fields of study in more than 140 countries worldwide.
Madison Ann Carrington ’24
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MORRIS STUDENT SUSTAINABILITY LEADER AWARD
presented by Janet Schrunk Ericksen, chancellor
This award recognizes students who have displayed exemplary service to advance campus sustainability conversations and initiatives. The efforts of these student leaders have helped to create positive change with leadership that has been a model to others. Sustainability is a big idea that connects with our liberal arts leadership. These students have asked “big questions” and have worked to find solutions.
Amalia Galvan ’24
Victoria Elizabeth Johnson ’24
ALLEN W. EDSON AWARD
presented by Sandra K. Olson-Loy, vice chancellor for student affairs
Presented annually in recognition of contribution to campus life, the Allen W. Edson Award’s recipient is nominated by the student body, faculty, and staff, and chosen by the Student Affairs Committee. The award honors Allen Edson, superintendent of the University of Minnesota West Central School of Agriculture (WCSA) and Experiment Station on the Morris campus from 1947 to 1958.
Riley Tollefsrud ’25
MARY MARTELLE MEMORIAL AWARD
presented by Sandra K. Olson-Loy, vice chancellor for student affairs
Presented annually to a student and to a staff member deemed to have made outstanding contributions to the quality of Morris campus life, the Mary Martelle Memorial Award perpetuates the memory of Mary Martelle, senior secretary in the Office of Student Activities from 1965 until her death in 1976.
Riley Tollefsrud ’25
MUSICAL SELECTION
À Chloris (1916), Reynaldo Hahn
Alexander Happ ’24, voice
Ann DuHamel, associate professor of music, piano
SCHOLAR OF THE COLLEGE AWARD
presented by Peh Ng, acting vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean
Scholar of the College Awards are presented annually to students who demonstrate distinguished contributions to scholarship in one or more of the academic disciplines.
Nova Austin ’25
Noah R Bastin ’24
Bethanie Sarah Belisle ’24
Kianna LaRae Big Crow ’24
Tasha Lyn Douville ’24
Mason James Eischens ’24
Ben Giese ’24
Yuechu Hu ’24
Tzu-Hsiang Huang ’23
Michelle Antoinette Johnson ’24
Adrienne Eve Kanihan ’24
Zerui Lyu ’24
Malena Mahoney ’26
Chenfei Peng ’24
Abbie Rehbein ’26
Kiley Nicole Rodarmel ’24
Kathryn E Smith ’24
Riley Tollefsrud ’25
John Walbran ’25
Yifei Yu ’24
Gavin G. Zempel ’24
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MESTENHAUSER STUDENT AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN CAMPUS INTERNATIONALIZATION
recognized by Peh Ng, acting vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean
The Josef Mestenhauser Student Award for Excellence in Campus Internationalization recognizes outstanding student contributions to international education. This award acknowledges important work being done by students at the University of Minnesota to internationalize the curriculum and campus.
Dongting Cai ’24
EDITH RODGERS FARRELL MEMORIAL AWARD FOR UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH
presented by Kevin Whalen, associate professor of Native American and Indigenous studies
Established by the family, students, and friends of Edith Rogers Farrell, late professor of French and undergraduate research advocate, the annual award is granted to a graduating senior whose research is judged by a jury of faculty to be excellent.
Gavin G. Zempel ’24
BILL AND IDA STEWART AWARD FOR RACIAL JUSTICE ADVOCACY
presented by Ann DuHamel, associate professor of music and Equity and Diversity Committee chair
This award recognizes students who have displayed exemplary service on our campus in support of promoting ethnic diversity and a supportive climate for all people. Bill Stewart touched the lives of thousands of UMN Morris students and championed the concerns, needs, and accomplishments of students of color. Under his leadership, the Multi-Ethnic Student Program provided academic assistance, financial aid, and student support services to improve opportunities for underrepresented students. Ida Stewart served as a faculty member, education coordinator, and academic advisor and established World Touch Cultural Heritage Week and the Women of Color Association.
Evelin Mariela Canil Aguilar ’24
HONORS PROGRAM RECOGNITION
presented by Athena Kildegaard, assistant professor of English and director of the Honors Program
The Morris Honors Program focuses on providing opportunities for curious, creative, and intellectually ambitious students to practice interdisciplinary thinking. All courses in the program are interdisciplinary and are frequently taught by two professors. Students complete the program with an interdisciplinary capstone project and defense, and have an overall grade point average of 3.5 or higher at graduation.
Dongting Cai ’24
Matilyn Jessica Rose Carl ’24
Tasha Lyn Douville ’24
Isaac J Harveaux ’24
Sam Jordan ’23
Allison Koos ’24
Anthony James Rozycki ’24
MUSICAL SELECTION
Agony! (1987), Stephen Sondheim
Alexander Happ ’24, voice
Evan Anderson ’26, voice
Ann DuHamel, associate professor of music, piano
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ATHLETIC AWARDS
presented by Matthew Johnson ’03, director, Intercollegiate Athletics
ARNOLD HENJUM SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARD
Presented to a senior male athlete on the basis of athletic excellence and integrity, the award honors Arnold Henjum, professor of education from 1964 to 1992, who made innumerable contributions to Minnesota public education. Recipients must earn a minimum 3.0 overall grade point average.
Blake Robert Westbrook Johnson ’23
WILLIS KELLY AWARD
Presented to a senior female athlete who exemplifies the spirit of competition at UMN Morris in women’s athletics, the award is in memory of Willis Kelly, physical education coach and athletic director at UMN Morris for more than 20 years. She was the first director of women’s athletics in 1975 and served as director of men’s and women’s athletics from 1982 until her retirement in 1987. Recipients must earn a minimum 3.0 overall grade point average.
JayS K Kwateh ’24
HONOR ATHLETE AWARDS
Selected by a committee of coaches on the basis of academic and athletic achievement, recipients of the Men’s and Women’s Honor Athlete Awards have earned a grade point average of 3.0 or higher.
Margaret Anne Jones ’24
Grant Jonathan Strukel ’24
COUGAR EXCELLENCE AWARDS
The Cougar Excellence Awards are awarded each year to fourth-year student-athletes who represent the best of Cougar Athletics: passion, dedication, athletic competitiveness, and academic engagement. Recipients have competed at the University of Minnesota Morris for a minimum of two years.
Kim Butala Peters ’24
Marcus Reeb ’23
EDUCATION AWARD
presented by Michelle Page, professor of education, chair, Division of Education
WILLIAM R. SCARBOROUGH MEMORIAL AWARD
Presented annually to a senior in elementary or secondary education, the William R. Scarborough Memorial Award recognizes demonstrated competence and potential for becoming an outstanding member of the teaching profession. The award honors the memory of William Scarborough, former Division of Education chair, who joined the faculty in 1966 and made many contributions to the Morris campus and to public education in Minnesota.
Dana Josephine Voss ’24
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HUMANITIES AWARDS
presented by J. Wesley Flinn, associate professor of music, chair, Division of the Humanities
ART HISTORY BOOK AWARD
Awarded to graduating art history majors, this award recognizes academic excellence and potential for further achievement in the arts.
Josephine Rose Carson ’24
Jessica Gustafson ’24
Kathryn E Smith ’24
ALUMNI AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ENGLISH MAJOR
This award is presented to English majors whose performances in English classes have been consistently superior and who have made positive contributions to the discipline or major in and beyond the classroom.
Tasha Lyn Douville ’24
KEITH CARLSON MEMORIAL JAZZ AWARD
Presented annually to the most outstanding jazz musicians at UMN Morris, this award is given in memory of Keith Carlson by Jack and Ethel Carlson.
Ben Giese ’24
Nathaniel Cole Weglewski ’24
BRION DALAGER MEMORIAL AWARD
Established by the family and friends of the late Brion Dalager, University of Minnesota Morris music student from 1969 to 1972, this scholarship is awarded annually to students who have demonstrated outstanding ability on a band instrument.
Adrienne Eve Kanihan ’24
Bryanna Wiebe ’25
NATALIE BENOIT MEMORIAL AWARD
Presented to a junior or senior who demonstrates ability and shows promise as a serious art student. Given by George and Joan Benoit, former Morris residents, in memory of their daughter who was an art major studying at Penn State when an accident took her life.
Sierra Rose Kallio ’24
LOIS P. HODGELL PRINTMAKING AWARD
This award honors the late Lois P. Hodgell, professor of art from 1962 until her retirement in 1993. The recipient must show outstanding achievement in printmaking. Presented annually to a student who demonstrates creative potential in the field and technical understanding of a variety of print processes.
Margot Finneran-Flyckt ’24
Evelyn Thell ’24
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RAY AND DOLORES LAMMERS AWARD IN THE LANGUAGE ARTS
Established in memory of the late Raymond J. Lammers, professor of theatre, and his late wife Dolores, this award is presented to seniors majoring in and demonstrating outstanding undergraduate careers in one of the following disciplines: theatre, English, foreign language, or communication, media, and rhetoric. Professor Lammers was one of the first UMN Morris faculty members and figured prominently in the creation of the theatre major and theatre program.
Madison Ann Carrington ’24
Mason James Eischens ’24
SCIENCE & MATHEMATICS AWARDS
presented by Heather Waye, associate professor of biology, acting chair, Division of Science and Mathematics
ABBOTT AWARD IN PHYSICS
Presented to a graduating senior physics major with the greatest potential of achieving a professional career in physics or a physics-related field, the award was established by the late Robinson Abbott, professor of biology from 1961 to 1991, and his wife, Rose Marie, who taught UMN Morris biology courses, to recognize the importance UMN Morris played in their lives. All four Abbott children graduated from UMN Morris, three with physics majors.
Briana R Dokken ’24
JAY Y. ROSHAL AWARD
Presented to a senior student majoring in biology who demonstrates the most promise and interest in a career in the biological sciences, the award is in honor of the late Jay Roshal, professor of biology from 1960 to 1983 and the first University of Minnesota Morris Division of Science and Mathematics chair.
Madelyn Rose Schoenberger ’24
JIM WINTER ECOLOGY AWARD
Established by Jim Winter, a native of Morris who earned a BA in biology in 1968 from UMN Morris and graduate degrees from the University of Minnesota, this award provides financial support to juniors and seniors who are interested in attending graduate school to study ecology or in working in the field of ecology and have a background with demonstrated academic success in ecology. Award preference is for students who have conducted undergraduate research, worked and/or volunteered on science projects, or presented a paper at a science conference.
Gillian Finn Deirdre ’24spdf CHEMISTRY AWARD
The annual spdf Award is given to a senior chemistry major demonstrating outstanding scholarship, potential, and service in chemistry. Chemistry students know that the letters s,p,d,f refer to the internal structure of the atom as determined by experiment and theory. Historically, the letters were nothing but labels for colors of light emitted or absorbed by atoms when the internal structure was unknown.
Adrienne Eve Kanihan ’24
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CLEMENS “JOHNNY” BRAUER MEMORIAL AWARD
Established by former colleagues and students to honor the memory of Clemens Brauer, associate professor of geology from 1966 to 1981, the award supports geology majors in their educational pursuits at the University of Minnesota Morris by providing financial assistance to cover field camp expenses. Recipients must exhibit academic excellence and plan a professional or academic career in geological sciences.
Calvin Nelson ’25
Logan Richard Stech ’24
SOCIAL SCIENCES AWARDS
presented by Arne Kildegaard, professor of business & management and economics, acting chair, Division of the Social Sciences
ANTHROPOLOGY RESEARCH AWARD
The Anthropology Research Award is given to an anthropology major who has shown exceptional ability for independent research. The award is given to a student with fewer than 90 credits toward graduation and includes monetary support for conducting research or presenting research at a professional meeting.
Mason Wilebski ’26
CHRIS BERG MEMORIAL AWARD
Presented annually to an outstanding senior economics major demonstrating academic excellence in that field, this award is presented by the University of Minnesota Morris economics/management faculty in memory of their colleague, Chris Berg, one of UMN Morris’s early economics faculty.
Yifei Yu ’24
UMM MANAGEMENT/ECONOMICS ALUMNI AWARD
This award is presented to a graduating discipline senior who has achieved academic excellence and has provided service to the discipline and the Morris campus. It is funded through collective alumni gifts to the management/economics discipline.
Marshall Francis Degidio O’Meara ’24
TED AND JUDITH UNDERWOOD AWARD IN HISTORY
Presented to a graduating senior with a major or minor in history or a history concentration in the social science major who has demonstrated distinguished academic performance in history, the award is named for Dr. Ted L. and Judith Underwood. Ted served the University of Minnesota Morris as an outstanding scholar, teacher, and administrator from 1967 until his retirement in 1999. Judith completed a degree in education at University of Minnesota Morris in 1971 and pursued a successful career in education in the Minneapolis area from 1973 to 1999.
Christian Diederich ’25
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GIESKE ACADEMIC AWARD
Offered annually to outstanding political science majors in their senior year, this award is given to students who have exceptional records of accomplishment at the University of Minnesota Morris as well as strong prospects for success after graduation. The award is in memory of Millard Gieske who was a professor in political science for more than 15 years. He served as acting chair of the Division of the Social Sciences, was a respected leader in many professional organizations, and authored many political works.
Bethanie Sarah Belisle ’24
OUTSTANDING GRADUATE IN PSYCHOLOGY AWARD
The Outstanding Graduate in Psychology Award is given annually to seniors graduating with psychology majors. Recipients who receive this award have excelled in the following areas: scholarship, research experience, and participation in the psychology discipline.
Tasha Lyn Douville ’24
Kennedy Renee Hill ’24
Rachel Kirschner Scarseth ’24
Evelyn Thell ’24
SOCIOLOGY BOOK AWARD
Awarded to outstanding sociology students, this honor recognizes academic excellence and active engagement in the field of sociology.
Michelle Antoinette Johnson ’24
CLOSING REMARKS
Peh Ng, acting vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean
ADDITIONAL HONORS DURING THE 2023–24 ACADEMIC YEAR
AFRICAN AND BLACK AMERICAN STUDIES PROGRAM OUTSTANDING STUDENT AWARD
This award is presented to the student who has contributed most to the African and Black American studies program and has achieved a high level of academic excellence.
Sierra Pickett ’25
AMERICAN
INDIAN SALT SPRINGS AWARDS
The American Indian Salt Springs Awards are presented on the basis of academic excellence and contribution to the Indian and campus community to outstanding American Indian students who will return to the Morris campus next year.
American Indian Salt Springs Cultural Award Scholarship
Chase Bittner ’26
Sophia Diver ’26
Mikayli Marciulionus ’26
American Indian Salt Springs Teacher Scholarship
Jada Lego ’27
Mesabi-Lyn Severson ’26
BOS UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH AWARDS
The Bos Research Fund was established in honor of Angela Bos ’01 to enhance the successful undergraduate research experience of UMN Morris students. Funds are made available to cover expenses for travel, conference registration, and other costs associated with the pursuit of the undergraduate research opportunities. All students are eligible to participate.
Ben Giese ’24
Adrienne Eve Kanihan ’24
Kiley Nicole Rodarmel ’24
BRIDGFORD SUMMER SCHOLARS PROGRAM
Established by Betty Bridgford Orvis and Robert E. Orvis Sr. in memory of Betty’s father, Roy Bridgford, agronomist at the West Central School of Agriculture and the Experiment Station from 1918 until his retirement in 1956. Professor Bridgford taught classes in crops, soils, and plant diseases and had charge of all crop research. He was known not only throughout Minnesota, but also throughout the Upper Midwest for his experimental and research work with crops. The program supports a summer research and internship experience for one or more students who are interested in expanding their knowledge and experience in relation to agriculture, food, and crop production at UMN Morris.
Madelyn Rose Schoenberger ’24
CHEMISTRY UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH AWARD
The Chemistry Undergraduate Research Fund (CURF) provides support for students who are majoring in chemistry/biochemistry and have an interest in carrying out research in chemistry/biochemistry of a closely related field. The awardees have demonstrated outstanding aptitude for research in the chemistry discipline’s Introduction to Research course and the potential for continued success.
Daniel Dahmen ’26
Siri Overturf ’26
CHI ALPHA SIGMA
Chi Alpha Sigma, the National College Athlete Honor Society, recognizes high academic achievements of student athletes at the collegiate level. Student athletes who contribute significantly to at least one intercollegiate sport while maintaining a 3.4 or higher cumulative GPA throughout their junior and senior years are eligible for membership in Chi Alpha Sigma. The University of Minnesota Morris chapter, established in 2006, is the only chapter in Minnesota.
Anna Athey ’25
Abigail Doyle ’25
Tommy Ellis ’25
Alex Emmrich ’25
Abby Hachmeister ’25
Grace Hambike ’25
Ilsa Hoaglund ’25
Zoe Hoaglund ’25
Sheena James ’25
Cooper Jones ’25
Dalton Lee Koehler ’24
Will Marsan ’25
Grace Elizabeth Mary Marshall ’24
Carter Maurice ’25
Madeline Monaco ’25
Calvin Nelson ’25
Kayla Nelson ’25
McKenzie S Newton ’24
Lauren Parsons ’25
Kim Butala Peters ’24
Lilly Radintz ’25
Jacob Schaaf ’25
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AWARD
Hannah Selig ’25
Tyler Stephans ’25
Sierra Stevens ’25
Marybeth Tautges ’25
Conor Thornbrugh ’25
Duncan Vandergon ’25
Ava Weber ’25
Laura Wellbrock ’25
Hannah Wellens ’25
Ayla Erin Wicklow ’24
The Minnesota Campus Compact Award recognizes students who have contributed meaningfully to university-community partnerships.
Allison Koos ’24
DIK MUNSON ART AWARD
Presented to outstanding first- and second-year studio art students demonstrating creative potential in future discipline coursework. This award is intended for purchase of materials and supplies for the recipient’s artwork and experimentation with new media.
Riley Johnson ’27
Grace Lulai ’26
Marin Westrum ’27
JOHN BRIAN BECKER ’97 MEMORIAL STUDENT ACTIVIST AWARD
Established by friends of the late John Becker ’97, this award is meant to honor and to thank a student identified as being a progressive-thinking individual whose activism has made an impact on campus or beyond by raising public awareness and promoting social change. John majored in English and theatre arts while at UMN Morris and was actively involved in the Student DFL, KUMM, and Women’s Resource Center.
Allie Jutton ’26
MATTHEW IAN HELGESEN MEMORIAL AWARD
Established by Tim and Jean Helgesen in memory of their son, Matthew ’06, this award is given to the captain of the Bad Movie Club. Matt was one of the first students to start the club during his freshman year at UMN Morris. The award honors the values of UMN Morris and reflects student initiative in creativity in leadership and serves to encourage the captain to keep the club going by doing “all the extras that always need to be done.”
Gray C. Kruse ’24
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MORRIS ACADEMIC PARTNER (MAP) PROGRAM
In recognition of the value of academic employment to the intellectual development of students, and for the opportunity to assist faculty members in their work, this program awards stipends to academically talented students. These students undertake assignments that enhance their intellectual competence and increase their interest in graduate or professional study. Students were paired with faculty.
Jessica Gustafson ’24
Conor Thornbrugh ’25
John Walbran ’25
Alayna Louise Fjelstad ’24
Lucas Newhouse ’25
Noah R Bastin ’24
Josiah James Novak ’24
William Marsan ’25
Brendan Patrick Conroy ’24
Chenfei Peng ’24
Yuechu Hu ’24
OWEN W. AND FRANCES A. TATE MEMORIAL AWARD FOR STUDENT LEARNING
Established by the Tate family to honor the memories of Owen and Frances Tate, lifelong residents of Big Stone County, and to support student learning activities that do not have other funding sources available, the award provides matching dollars to cover travel expenses for students presenting scholarly work at symposia and professional meetings, engaging in artistic activities, conducting research projects, or performing outside of the campus community, all of which are activities that showcase the University of Minnesota Morris to a broader learning community.
Sanjana Kidambi ’24
PI DELTA PHI
Students who are eligible for Pi Delta Phi, the French National Honor Society, have taken at least one advanced course in French, maintain at least a 3.3 GPA in French courses and overall, and rank in the top 35% of their class.
Grace Hambike ’25
PI SIGMA ALPHA
Founded in 2010, UMN Morris’s Alpha Zeta Eta chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha, the first in the University of Minnesota System, is a national political science honor society. Its goal is to stimulate scholarship and intelligent interest in political science. The Morris chapter aims to encourage development and dissemination of independent research; initiate and participate in community and service activities; and expose members and the University community to the study of government and issues of public concern. Members are juniors or seniors who have completed at least 10 semester credits in political science, including at least one upper division course, and earned an average grade of B or higher in those courses. Overall, members have achieved a GPA of 3.4 or higher.
Bethanie Sarah Belisle ’24
Henry Hauser ’24
Jonas Kammeyer-Mueller ’25
Erin Maher ’26
Dylan Clay Naughton ’23
Hannah Selig ’25
Isabella M Sieling ’24
PI SIGMA ALPHA BEST PAPER
The Pi Sigma Alpha Best Paper Award is given to political science students whose papers, submitted for courses during the previous calendar year, were judged the best based on a degree of original research, level of critical thinking, and quality of writing. Pi Sigma Alpha is the national political honor society of college students of political science and government.
Dylan Clay Naughton ’23
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SCHNEIDER NATIONAL AWARD
Presented to an economics or management student who has demonstrated academic excellence, outstanding research abilities, and success in industry-oriented studies, the award is funded by Schneider National, Incorporated.
Yifei Yu ’24
Yuechu Hu ’24
SIGMA DELTA PI
Sigma Delta Pi National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society members are junior or seniors with a minimum 3.0 GPA who have completed at least three years of college-level Spanish, including at least three semester hours in Hispanic literature or culture and civilization. Active members of UMN Morris’s Omega Omicron chapter, founded in the spring of 2013, participate in at least 10 hours of community service activities per semester, including the Bilingual Literacy Project carried out in conjunction with the Morris Public Library.
Catherine Van Wey ’26
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM
This competitive program supports student research, scholarly, or creative projects undertaken in partnership with a faculty or staff member. Students develop and discuss an idea with a mentor, write a proposal, complete the work, and present the project to a wide audience. Awarded in the term listed, for work in the following term.
Spring 2023
Elizabeth Frias ’25
Henry Hauser ’24
Lex Lhotka ’26
Madelyn Rose Schoenberger ’24
Yifei Yu ’24
Summer 2023
Dongting Cai ’24
Fall 2023
Liam Poitra ’25
Violet Musta ’25
Nova Austin ’25
Ashlen Artemis Plasek ’24
Yuechu Hu ’24
Nathaniel Cole Weglewski ’24
WAWOKIYA AWARD FOR SERVICE
The Wawokiya (Lakota for “one who helps”) Award is awarded annually to outstanding senior psychology majors. Recipients have strong records of accomplishment at UMN Morris and sincere interest in helping others.
Lydia L Hurst ’24
Kaitlyn Jade Tripp ’24
Gavin G. Zempel ’24
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2024 SCHOLAR OF THE COLLEGE BIOGRAPHIES
Nova Austin ’25
As a McNair Scholar, during the summer of 2023, Nova Austin, a physics major, worked on image recognition for sky images to identify sky types and ice halo appearances using a deep learning algorithm. The resulting software will be used by research students in the future. Austin presented this work in the fall Undergraduate Research Symposium (URS) at UMN Morris, as well as for the Regents visit in fall 2023. She is also working on a UROP project, building and developing a rotary speaker for low-frequency sound, a project presented at the URS in spring 2024. The physics club has greatly benefited from her initiative and outreach.
Noah R Bastin ’24
Noah Bastin, a statistics major and economics minor, joined the Truckers & Turnover (T&T) project in spring 2023. T&T is a multi-year research effort (supervised by Professor Stephen Burks and Associate Professor Bibhu Panda, in economics and management, and Professor Jon Anderson, in statistics) with multiple external co-investigators and multiple past external sponsors. T&T has trained more than 70 UMN Morris students, many of whom have been co-authors on project publications. Bastin has made substantive contributions to the development of the data and analysis being used in the fifth T&T scientific paper on medical topics, titled “Did the Registry of Certified Medical Examiners Improve the Screening Effectiveness of the Commercial Driver Medical Exam for Obstructive Sleep Apnea?” He will be a junior co-author of this paper, due for submission to a refereed scientific journal, the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, during the last half of 2024.
Bethanie Sarah Belisle ’24
Bethanie Belisle, a political science and art history major, was named a Scholar of the College in 2023 for a research paper on statue removal in the South. This project maps the removal of controversial statues across all the United States to discover linkages between their removal and anti-racist movements. The work centers on a dataset of statues removed from 2000 to 2023 and details geographical location, removal date, cited reasons, and any associated protests or activist efforts. The data will yield insights into the societal dynamics surrounding the removal of controversial statues. Furthermore, it sheds light on how historical symbols are contested, negotiated, and redefined in American society. The dataset and overall project work has been presented at multiple conferences in 2024 (Midwest Pol Sci Assoc, Pi Sigma Alpha National Student Conference, and NCUR). Belisle plans to continue updating the dataset in the future.
Kianna LaRae Big Crow ’24
In her McNair Program summer research, Kianna Big Crow, economics and Native American and Indigenous studies majors, examined the educational attainment of the Indigenous population in the Tribal and homeland areas. She found that only 17% of the Indigenous population have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher in the US, in contrast to 37% of white Americans. This number is even lower, at 13%, in the 621 Tribal/ homeland areas. She is scheduled to present this research at the 2024 National Conference for McNair Scholars and Undergraduate Research to be held at the University of Maryland. Big Crow, in a directed study, is currently researching how returns to education for Indigenous women compare to Indigenous men and other racial groups in the US.
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Tasha Lyn Douville ’24
A poem, “I see you,” by Tasha Douville, an English major with a creative writing subplan, was accepted for publication in the 2023 issue of The Tower, a literary journal featuring work by undergraduates from around the nation and edited by English majors and other undergraduates at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. In her research, as in her writing, Douville displays a steady work ethic, an ability to sit with complicated topics, and an author’s care for language and its possibilities.
Mason James Eischens ’24
Mason Eischens, a French major and computer science minor, published “A Heart on Ice: My Complicated Relationship with Minnesota’s Favorite Game,” an autoethnographic study of hockey culture in his hometown of Saint Paul, in Scholarly Horizons. Exploring the social stakes of play, Eischens’s study advances a socio-psychological study of the role of geography, class, religious affiliation, perceptions of gender, and hockey slang in an insider culture of hyper conformity. Eischens has been an officer for Entre Nous and a TA for many French courses. Eischens studied in Lille, France, and is widely recognized by peers as a champion for the internationalization of campus. In his senior seminar, “L’anime et le manga: sontils français?” Eischens examined French culture, literature, philosophy, and governmental policy by analyzing Japanese anime and its relationship to French culture. He has been accepted to the master’s program in translation and interpretation Studies at UW-Milwaukee.
Ben Giese ’24
Ben Giese, a chemistry major, worked with Assistant Professor Stuart Winikoff as part of a directed research project in the 2023–24 academic year. The work focused on the use of computational chemistry to determine organic chemistry reaction mechanisms. Giese’s research was presented at the spring 2024 national meeting of the American Chemical Society. In spring 2024, Ben also worked with Professor Ted Pappenfus on an NSF-funded project to prepare organic dye molecules for solar energy research.
Yuechu Hu ’24
Yuechu Hu, a statistics major and economics minor, joined the Truckers & Turnover (T&T) project in spring 2023. T&T is a multi-year research effort (supervised by Professor Stephen Burks and Associate Professor Bibhu Panda, in economics and management, and Professor Jon Anderson, in statistics) with multiple external co-investigator and multiple past external sponsors. T&T has trained more than 70 UMN Morris students, many of whom have been co-authors on project publications. Hu has made substantive contributions to the development of the data and analysis being used in the fifth T&T scientific paper on medical topics, titled “Did the Registry of Certified Medical Examiners Improve the Screening Effectiveness of the Commercial Driver Medical Exam for Obstructive Sleep Apnea?” She will be a junior co-author of this paper, due for submission to a refereed scientific journal, the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, during the last half of 2024.
Tzu-Hsiang Huang ’23
Tzu-Hsiang “James” Huang, a chemistry major, applied three quantum mechanically based methods for drawing molecular structural formulas to superoxide ion and hydroperoxyl radical, two biologically important chemical species. The results compared well with both density functional computations he performed and experimental results from the chemical literature and are a step toward developing methods of chemical reasoning to better understand the chemistry of free radical species. Huang presented the work at the spring 2024 American Chemical Society national meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Michelle Antoinette Johnson ’24
Michelle Johnson, a sociology major, conducted research on conservative content creators’ YouTube videos in order to understand how they use media to teach audiences racialized, gendered, and nationalistic ideas about the western hegemonic order. She presented this research as a poster at the Midwest Sociological Society Annual Meeting in April 2024. Johnson’s identity as a heritage speaker of Spanish, her study abroad experience
in Spain, and her minor in Spanish also inform her research, particularly on issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion. Additionally, she is a member of the Sociological and Anthropological Society student organization and has worked with an advocacy organization called People for PSEO, which tries to expand educational opportunities for high school students in the region.
Adrienne Eve Kanihan ’24
Adrienne Kanihan, a chemistry major, conducted research on the strength of hydrogen bonds in liquids as a function of temperature and solute concentration. Funded by the alumni-supported Chemistry Undergraduate Research Fund (CURF), this research was conducted using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and very strict analytical chemistry controls. This research was supervised by Associate Professor Jennifer Goodnough and was presented at the 2024 Spring American Chemical Society National Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana. Kanihan is a leader in the ACS Student Affiliates (Chem Club) and presented the group’s work at the same conference. Kanihan is also a standout member of the UMN Morris community as a residence hall director, Gateway mentor, tutor, and discipline student representative. As a Prairie Scholar, she embraces the liberal arts with recent participation in the 2024 Minnesota Music Educators Association Intercollegiate Honor Band.
Zerui Lyu ’24
Zerui Lyu, a computer science major; economics minor, joined the Truckers & Turnover (T&T) project in spring 2022. Lyu has made substantive contributions to the development of the data and analysis being used in the fifth T&T scientific paper on medical topics, titled “Did the Registry of Certified Medical Examiners Improve the Screening Effectiveness of the Commercial Driver Medical Exam for Obstructive Sleep Apnea?” He will be a junior co-author of this paper, due for submission to a refereed scientific journal, Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, during the last half of 2024. In addition, Lyu contributed significantly as a co-author to the paper titled “DUCT: Dynamic Unified Carbon Modeling Tool for Datacenter Scheduling”, which was submitted to the
IEEE International Electro/Information Technology Conference (EIT) in 2024. Harry duplicated the state-of-the-art work as a comparison, which matters greatly to this paper. His work has a broader impact in developing more sustainable computing systems by reducing carbon emissions.
Malena Mahoney ’26
Malena Mahoney, a computer science major with data science and statistics minors, joined the Truckers & Turnover (T&T) project in fall 2022. T&T is a multi-year research effort (supervised by Professor Stephen Burks and Associate Professor Bibhu Panda, in economics and management, and Professor Jon Anderson, in statistics) with multiple external co-investigators and multiple past external sponsors. T&T has trained more than 70 UMN Morris students, many of whom have been coauthors on project publications. Mahoney has made substantive contributions to the development of the data and analysis being utilized in the fifth T&T scientific paper on medical topics, titled “Did the Registry of Certified Medical Examiners Improve the Screening Effectiveness of the Commercial Driver Medical Exam for Obstructive Sleep Apnea?” She will be a junior co-author of this paper, due for submission to a refereed scientific journal, the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, during the last half of 2024.
Chenfei Peng ’24
Chenfei Peng, a computer science major, studied using information about the performance of ancestors to estimate the performance of newly generated computer programs in evolutionary computation systems. The cost of evaluating evolved computer programs is quite substantial, and using the performance of ancestors to estimate the performance of children can speed that up. These estimates assume that the performance of the child is generally the same as that of the parent, an assumption that must be at least occasionally incorrect in order for an evolutionary process to make progress. Peng’s work explores ways to identify newly generated programs (children) that are “worth” more complete (and thus more expensive) evaluation. He co-authored a paper with his faculty adviser, Professor Nic McPhee,
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“Enhancing Evolutionary Computation: Optimizing Phylogeny-informed Fitness Estimation Through Strategic Modifications,” which has been submitted to the 2024 Midwest Instruction and Computing Symposium.
Abbie Rehbein ’26
Abbie Rehbein, an English and biology major, is an exemplary student and active researcher who has been working with Rebecca Simmons at the University of North Dakota on analyzing the microbiomes of prairie arthropods, both pollinators and predators. She has collaborated with Associate Professor of Biology Paul Z. Myers to extend her work to studying the microbiomes of spiders, in an effort to determine the bacterial species that populate the guts of the invertebrates in our region, and that are potentially adaptive. She has presented this work at two sessions of the national Entomological Society of America and plans to continue this invaluable work as a graduate student.
Kiley Nicole Rodarmel ’24
Kiley Rodarmel, a communication, media, and rhetoric major and Spanish minor, has been heavily involved in some of UMN Morris’s extracurricular programs connecting students with the local Hispanic community. UMN Morris views intercultural competency as a valuable student outcome. Rodarmel worked as a Morris Academic Partner with Spanish Teaching Specialist Windy Roberts to assess the extent to which the Jane Addams Project, one of the extracurricular programs, helps students increase their intercultural competence. She carried out her study using established frameworks from the literature on intercultural competence. She performed a content analysis on final reflection papers of anonymous student interns from the Jane Addams Project. She concluded that this project does indeed improve the intercultural competence of the participating students. Rodarmel presented her findings at the Seven Rivers Undergraduate Research Symposium at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin, in November 2023.
Kathryn E Smith ’24
Kathryn Smith, art history and medieval and ancient studies majors, has a scholar’s sense for interesting questions, which has led her to work on various topics. Her research into Japanese photographer Daidō Moriyama, analyzing his aesthetic approach, was published in an article in Scholarly Horizons. She has also worked with Professor Jimmy Schryver investigating the role of theatre in the society of ancient Athens. Her own investigations of ancient Greece have led her to research the northern metopes on the Parthenon and to question just how well we really know certain parts of the monument. Smith’s future plans include attending graduate school.
Riley Tollefsrud ’25
Riley Tollefsrud, Spanish and psychology majors, has worked with Associate Professor Kerry Michael on the project “Comparing the effects of box breathing to a mental focus task on reducing heart rate after an acute stressor.” Tollefsrud created, researched, designed, conducted, analyzed, and presented the study. He is designing a study to interview teachers in greater Minnesota about the use of educational technologies in their classrooms. His research was presented at the 2023 Midwestern Psychological Association Annual Conference and at the UMN Morris spring 2023 Undergraduate Research Symposium.
John Walbran ’25
John Walbran, a computer science major, contributed significantly as the first author for the paper titled, “Large Language Models Based Compiler Optimization: Summary of Recent Work and a Proposed Framework,” which was submitted to Midwest Instruction and Computing Symposium (MICS) 2024. Walbran participated in the brainstorming to generate ideas for this paper, contributed to the literature review via the directed study, and helped edit the paper throughout the process. Walbran demonstrated independent research ability and teamwork throughout this process.
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Yifei Yu ’24
Yifei Yu, economics and management: global business major and statistics minor, joined the Truckers & Turnover (T&T) project in spring 2022. T&T is a multi-year research effort (supervised by Professor Stephen Burks and Associate Professor Bibhu Panda, in economics and management, and Professor Jon Anderson, in statistics) with multiple external co-investigators and multiple past external sponsors. T&T has trained more than 70 UMN Morris students, many of whom have been co-authors on project publications. Yu has made substantive contributions to the development of the data and analysis being used in the fifth T&T scientific paper on medical topics, titled “Did the Registry of Certified Medical Examiners Improve the Screening Effectiveness of the Commercial Driver Medical Exam for Obstructive Sleep Apnea?” She will be a junior co-author of this paper, due for submission to a refereed scientific journal, the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, during the last half of 2024.
Gavin G. Zempel ’24
Gavin Zempel, psychology and Native American and Indigenous studies majors, researched Indigenous language revitalization and the boarding school experiences of his Dakota relatives at Pipestone Indian School. For the McNair Summer Research Seminar, he surveyed the literature on Indigenous language revitalization and offered analysis of which language revitalization strategies would be useful at Lower Sioux. With funding from the UROP program, Zempel examined records from Pipestone Indian School at the National Archives. Bringing student files for his relatives together with family histories, oral interviews, and oral traditions, Zempel argued that scholarly emphasis on how students used boarding school curricula for their own purposes has obscured the cultural and economic damages done by the schools. Zempel presented his work at the Northern Great Plains History Conference and at two UMN Morris Undergraduate Research Symposia. In 2023, he was a Minnesota Historical Society Native American Undergraduate Museum Program Fellow.
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