Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, held its 49th annual Student Awards Banquet May 1 at the Uniontown Park Inn by Radisson, where 150 students, staff, faculty and guests gathered to recognize student accomplishments over the 2014-15 academic year.
Three of the most prestigious honors at the Fayette campus are the Walker, Hippo and Scholastic Excellence awards.
The Eric A. and Josephine S. Walker Award goes to one student at each of Penn State’s undergraduate campuses. The recipient exemplies outstanding qualities of character, scholarship, leadership and citizenship that have been directed into programs and services. This year’s Walker Award went to Angela Simmons of Uniontown for positively influencing her fellow students and for contributing to the prestige and well-being of the Fayette campus and the University.
The Dennis Hippo Memorial Award, which is named for a member of Penn State Fayette’s first graduating class, honors a male and female student who exemplify leadership, campus and community involvement, academic persistence, service and altruism. The 2014-15 award recipients are both veterans: Keith Medley, Scottdale, and Sandra Robertson, Adah.
The Scholastic Excellence Award recognizes students who compete in a rigorous written and oral academic research presentation. The third-place finalist was Jenny McCandless, Glassport, while Miranda Keyser, Mount Pleasant, took second place. The team of Adomas Povilianskas, Fairchance, and Kenneth Whyel, Fairbank, captured first place for creating a fitness “app” designed to track exercise frequency and intensity and food intake.
The complete list of student award winners follows:
University Awards
-- Eric A. and Josephine S. Walker Award: Angela Simmons, Uniontown
-- President’s Freshman Award: Nur Syazrena Ashyqeen, Lemont Furnace; Jacob Guess, Holbrook; Leqi He, Lemont Furnace; Shilun Huang, Lemont Furnace; Jaclyn Kacmar, Uniontown; Shelly Volosin, Scottdale; Justine Waggel, Connellsville; James Wilson, Waynesburg; Shijia Zhou, Lemont Furnace
Academic Awards:
-- Administration of Justice Award: Heather Rattay, Fairchance
-- Associate in Business Administration Award: Casey Doyle, Washington
-- Bachelor of Science in Business Award: Sarah Espey, Scottdale
-- Human Development and Family Studies Award: Keith Medley, Scottdale
-- Mathematics Award: Gerald Hinerman, West Newton
-- Physical Therapy Assistant Award: Andrea Detwiler, Ohiopyle
-- Thelma Sandy Award in Nursing: Ashley White, Smithfield; Martha Colebank, Point Marion; Sherri Whipkey, Carmichaels
Campus Awards:
-- Scholastic Excellence Award: Kenneth Whyel, Fairbank; Adomas Povilianskas, Fairchance
-- David J. Leone Memorial Leadership Award: Vance Blount, Vanderbilt
-- Dennis Hippo Memorial Award: Keith Medley, Scottdale; Sandra Robertson, Adah
-- Joanne Genova Sujansky Memorial Leadership Award: Bryan Kibe, Perryopolis; Alicia Williams, Masontown
-- Drozd Family Humanitarian Assistance and Community Service Award: Adomas Povilianskas, Fairchance
-- Port Family Public Service Award: Angela Simmons, Uniontown
-- James E. Work Memorial Award: Lacey Neunlist, Greensburg