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(Leavenworth, Kan.)—In the lead up to its May 12 Commencement Ceremony, the University of »¨½·Ö±²¥ community gathered to recognize the remarkable achievements of the class of 2018 at USM's annual Spring Convocation Honors & Hooding Ceremony on Tuesday, May 1, in Annunciation Chapel on the university's main campus in Leavenworth.

Reflecting on the students' academic journeys—from admission to the present day—USM President Sr. Diane Steele said, "We gather to acknowledge what you have accomplished and who they have become … Now, you are young professionals—liberally educated men and women ready to take your place in our global society, advancing the cause of peace and justice, the very Kingdom of God.

"In short, you have become Saint Marians. Today, we mark this miracle we call 'education' with the hooding ceremony."

The »¨½·Ö±²¥ is one of the few universities in the U.S. continuing the time-honored tradition of hooding its undergraduates. The hoods are worn over the graduation robes and denote a student's specific academic discipline—presented to the graduating students by Sr. Diane Steele.

"Our hooding ceremony is one of the things making us unique," explained Dr. Michelle Metzinger, USM's provost and vice president for academic affairs. "Very few colleges and universities have a hooding ceremony for undergraduates—and at some colleges and universities, the actual hooding ceremony is only for Ph.D.s. At USM, hooding has always been for all of our graduates, and we consider it a very special way to honor academic achievement in a personal way."

Among the students honored at the event:

Nishimwe Maria-Goreth, of Dallas, and Alexis Hayden, of Weatherford, Okla., earning the top student service honor—the Mother Mary Ancilla Award for Service.

Maria-Goreth has spent the better part of four years serving in various liturgical roles to enhance our worship as a community. Aside from her steadfast presence in campus ministry, she also was a founding member of the Black Student Union; she organized a Hurricane Harvey Relief Drive; and she helped our community celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King's legacy with (among other things) a book drive. Jacob Hayden, director of USM's campus ministry program, said, "Nishimwe has continually impressed me and many others gathered in this Chapel by her boundless commitment to be of service and make the world a better place."

Similarly, the second Mother Mary Ancilla Award for Service honoree, Hayden, spent much of her four years serving our community as a reader at Mass, and as an active member and officer of the Rotaract Club and on the Hunger Awareness Team. In addition to the work Hayden has done promoting service and awareness on campus through student organizations, she spent a portion of her summer break serving in a rural HIV/AIDS clinic in South Africa. One student who nominated Hayden said her presence in class is just as inspiring as her tireless commitment to making this world a better place: "In class, Alexis is likely to be seen serving her classmates by helping them learn a difficult concept—explaining in a way that helps them learn the important content. When she presents to the whole group, I am awed by her knowledge of her subject and the ease in which she can explain it to her class. She serves as a mentor and tutor."

Other USM student awards presented at Spring Convocation included:

• The Chase Student Award in Biology: Anne Ast, Conway Springs, Kan., and Amanda Turner, St. Louis, Mo.
• Business Students of the Year: Kyle Dougherty, Kent, Wash., Andrew J. Berry, Wichita, Kan.

All-University Honors (requires a 3.70 cumulative grade point average, participation in honors work within the major and in Honors Seminar, and Recommendation of the Honors Council for All-University Honors):

• Courtney Callahan, Lansing, Kan, Honors in Biology, All-University Honors
• Sarah Griffith, Ottawa, Kan., Honors in Biology, All-University Honors
• Alexis Hayden, Weatherford, Okla., Honors in Nursing, All-University Honors
• Bailey Hightower, Bonner Springs, Kan., Honors in English and Secondary Education, All-University Honors
• Sewon Lee, Leavenworth, Kan., Honors in Nursing, All-University Honors
• Marissa Martin, Tonganoxie, Kan., Honors in Biology, All-University Honors
• Brice Plein, Burlington, Iowa, Honors in Health Information Management, All-University Honors
• Austin Schuler, Lenexa, Kan., Honors in Biology, All-University Honors
• Katelynn Singleton, Basehor, Kan., Honors in Elementary Education, All-University Honors

Van Ibsen, theatre program director, and a USM stalwart for 38 years, was named Professor Emeritus in Theatre. Ibsen will retire at the close of the semester. Sr. Diane Steele said, "Van will be sorely missed. He's shaped so many lives over the past four decades, and he truly is the »¨½·Ö±²¥ mission in motion."      
 

Dr. Masa Watanabe, assistant professor of chemistry, was honored with this year's Sullivan Award for Teaching Excellence and University Leadership and Service. Established in 1990 and named after Sister Mary Louise Sullivan, a Sister of Charity of Leavenworth who served »¨½·Ö±²¥ for 45 years as professor and dean, the award is given to a full-time faculty member nominated by students, faculty, and staff as a person who "has made a distinct difference in the teaching climate at the »¨½·Ö±²¥." 

Dr. Wantanabe exemplifies all that the Sullivan Award stands for—more specifically, the Sullivan Award Committee cited his excellence in the classroom, his outstanding commitment to the USM community, and his exemplary dedication and service to the STEM professions.

Since 2013, Dr. Watanabe has taught chemistry at »¨½·Ö±²¥. Along with his teaching, he's actively conducted research (oftentimes including USM students) in the areas of computer modeling of nanomaterials, protein folding and computational structural biology, and phylogenetic inference of ancestral protein sequences.

Recently, Dr. Watanabe was selected to participate in the highly-competitive U.S. Department of Energy Visiting Faculty Program, utilizing computer simulations to reproduce the behavior of biomolecule using a mathematical model. He, and up to two »¨½·Ö±²¥ students, will work alongside some of the world's top research scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif. this summer to develop a novel computational method to simulate biomolecules more efficiently to solve many fundamental problems of theoretical and practical molecular biology and medicinal chemistry. 

  

The »¨½·Ö±²¥ is a Catholic co-educational applied liberal arts university founded and sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth. The University of »¨½·Ö±²¥ main campus is located at 4100 South 4th Street, Leavenworth, Kan. USM's Overland Park Campus at 4500 College Boulevard offers evening accelerated graduate and undergraduate degree-completion programs. The university also offers online programs. Visit stmary.edu for more information.