The Whittier College experience combines engaging and individualized classroom-based studies with practical, hands-on opportunities involving internships, research, fellowships, community service, campus leadership, and study abroad.
The 2022 Honors Convocation recognized those outstanding Poets who’ve taken full advantage of these opportunities to excel in and out of the classroom while enhancing their personal and professional development.
During the ceremony, Associate Professor of Education and Child Development Shannon Stanton Agbotse was presented with the 2022 Harry W. Nerhood Teaching Excellence Award. Named for Professor Emeritus of History Harry W. Nerhood, the award recognizes overall excellence in teaching. Stanton Agbotse is the Nadine Austin Wood Endowed Chair in U.S. History and she specializes in culturally responsive teaching, multicultural education, literacy, and teaching diverse learners within a social justice framework.
The 2020 Nerhood Awardee, James Irvine Foundation Chair of Biological Sciences and Fellowships Director Sylvia Vetrone, served as the evening's keynote speaker. In her speech, she shared sage advice given to her by her immigrant mother: "Tienes que tener ganas. Duermete un poquito, y vas a regresar con mas ganas y nuevas ideas. You need to have drive! Take a nap, and you’ll return with more drive and new ideas."
"This is how my mother taught me to maintain a growth mindset, take care of myself, and be flexible in my thinking," said Vetrone.
"As a professor of biology, this profession has allowed me to share and engage in my love of learning and never-ending curiosity for exploring the wonders of how our cells impart both health and disease, not just with my students, but also with my colleagues and friends within our College community and beyond. More meaningfully for me, is that I use this privileged position to share and extend the three lessons of my mother. I hold this knowledge to be more important than anything I have ever learned over my 20 years of formal education."
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
Undergraduate Fellowships
Alianza de Los Amigos-Ortiz Fellowship
Jessica Rosales-Estrada
Art & Technology Student Fellowship
Sage Amdahl
Kirstin DeMarquez
Bridget Dietz
Dayquan Moeller
Arthur Vining Davis Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship
Casandra Avila
Adriana Cox-Gonzalez
Aman Kumpawat
Jacqueline Torres
Allison Willrich
Jan and John ‘45 Cauffman Fellowship
Madeline Acosta
Mary Davis Fellowship in Public Service
Zoe Iseri
Destiny Randle
The Fifth-Year Fellowship in Studio Art
Elise Marshburn
The Fletcher Jones Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship
Madison Gonzalez
Madeline Ho
Brandon Jatico
Mason Lebby
Ashley Lewis
Fernando Ramirez
INTEX Fellowship
Diego Cruz
Gisselle Jimenez
Geraldine Serna
Masami Tsukazan Kanashiro
Bekezhan Zhaxylykov
Jeffrey Lindstrom ’94 Fellowship
Haley Paramo
Jan Lopez Wood Fellowship
Sophie Fudim
Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship
Alexandria Amaya
David Gomez
Adanech Muno
Richard M. Nixon Fellowship
Jillian Crane Mauzy
Barbara Ondrasik ’57 and David Groce Fellowship
Raymond Hartig
Jacob Hayes
Thomas Lyle-Temple
UniHealth Peer Health Educator Fellowship-Internship
Hana Abdullah
Leah Gibson
Mursalle Khwajazada
Aleen Mendoza
Caitlin Rainey
Fernando Ramirez
Shayla Sakkakhanaune
Dominic Samanta
Rayba Shaw
Julie Stouffer
External Fellowships
Catherine Acosta, Northern Illinois University REU: Water Quality in the Yucatan Peninsula
Dalia Cortez, University of Miami School of Medicine Immunology SURF Program
Brandon Jatico, South Dakota State University, Microbiome REU
Natasha Waldorf, Air Force Research Laboratory Scholars Program
Rubalcava Alyssa, University of Connecticut Physiology and Neurobiology REU
External Internships
Ally Burke, BDO, LCC Core Tax
Alejandra Castillo, Fisher Investments
Angela Centeno, Specialty Food Services
Kate Coronell, Chino Hills Pharmacy
Alessandro De La Torre, Deloitte Product Management
Javi-Nevaeh Hall, Justice Corps Internship
Jordan Heard, Northwestern Mutual College Financial
Andy Pascual, Accenture Technology
Kaden Symes, Iridium Satellite Communications Customer Service Engineer
Julia Trujillo, City of Long Beach Administrative
Grey Wright, Aruza Pest Control
External Scholarships
Destiny Aranda, Soroptimist Mentorship Scholarship
Giselle Ramirez, Soroptimist Mentorship Scholarship
Hailey Schneider, Ruth White Memorial Scholarship
Scholar-Athlete Awards
ACWPC Academic All American- Excellent Distinction
Eric Borunda (Men’s Water Polo)
Austin Dale (Men’s Water Polo)
Adan De La Loza (Men’s Water Polo)
Patrick Seelhorst (Men’s Water Polo)
ACWPC Academic All American- Outstanding Distinction
Lars Van Os (Men’s Water Polo)
ACWPC Academic All American- Superior Distinction
Paul Pittion (Men’s Water Polo)
CoSIDA Academic All-District
Katelyn Popoff (Women’s Volleyball)
Teani White (Women’s Basketball)
USTFCCCA All-Academic
Benjamin White (Track & Field and Cross Country)
DEPARTMENTAL AWARDS
Humanities Division
Art & Visual Studies
Outstanding Student in Art History & Visual Culture
Aubry Acosta
Outstanding Students in Graphic Design
Angelina Costello
Scout Mucher
Outstanding Student in Studio Art
Elise Marshburn
English Language and Literature
Outstanding Achievement in Creative Writing
Ariana Juarez
Outstanding Achievement in Literary Analysis
Yasmin Mendoza
Outstanding Achievement in Literary Applied Media Studies
Kristi Weyand
Global and Cultural Studies
Outstanding Academic Achievement in Global and Cultural Studies
Emily Russo
History
Outstanding Graduates in History
Elena Backus y Herrera
David Elithorpe
Ivonne Ochoa
The Paul Moore ’04 and Allison Moore-Smith ’00 Teaching Scholarship
Sarah Garcia
Malcom Niskey
Noah Ramirez
Modern Language and Literature
Outstanding Research in French
Aidan Anderson
Outstanding Students in French
Divya Rajagopalan
Nadine Syed Jefri
Outstanding Students in French Cultural Studies
Aidan Anderson
Nadine Syed Jefri
The Martin Ortiz Award for Academic Excellence in Spanish
Striker Herb
Cesar Tamayo
Music
Outstanding Music Composition
Lakotah Battle
Outstanding Performance by a Music Major
Nicole Fair
Outstanding Scholarship in Music
Deborah Hernandez
Philosophy
Outstanding Academic Achievement in Philosophy
Arlo Sandoval
Religious Studies
C. Milo Connick Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Religious Studies
Hailey Hirakawa
Arlo Sandoval
Theatre, Film, and Communication Arts
Outstanding Academic Achievement in Theatre, Film, and Communication Arts
Mary Lewis
Yasmin Mendoza
Jillian R. Weber
Natural Sciences Divison
Biology
Outstanding Academic Achievement in Biology
Monica Begany
Outstanding Academic Achievement & Research in Biology
Katie Ann Huy
Outstanding Service to the Biology Department
Gabriella Torres Joubert
Chemistry
The W. Roy Newsom Award in Chemistry
William Gao
Alexis Ngo
Undergraduate Research Award in Chemistry
William Gao
Alexis Ngo
Emmanuel Shum
Environmental Science
Outstanding Academic Achievement in Environmental Science
Scout Mucher
Jillian R. Weber
Outstanding Academic Achievement in Environmental Studies
Ashley Duenas
Nona Golden
Outstanding Research in Environmental Science
Jillian R. Weber
Mathematics
Outstanding Academic Achievement in Integrated Computer Science-Math
Andy Pascual
Outstanding Academic Achievement in Mathematics-Economics
Sergei Jacobs
Pim van der Veer
The Dr. Sharad V. Keny Memorial Endowed Scholarship
Anni Bamwenda
The Pyle Prize Outstanding Graduate in Mathematics
Teresa Marchetti
Social Sciences Division
Anthropology
Outstanding Academic Achievement in Anthropology
Aidan Anderson
Nona Golden
Business Administration
Outstanding Graduate in Accounting
Paul Trejo
Outstanding Graduate in Finance
Sergei Jacobs
Outstanding Graduate in International Business
Sanjay Khemani
Outstanding Graduate in Management
Andrew Chavez
Outstanding Graduate in Marketing
Gabriella Tellez
The Charles R. Laine Award for Outstanding Graduate in Business Administration
Pim van der Veer
The Murdy Writing Award
Rocio Gonzalez Melendez
The Richard T. Clawson Service Award
Kassady Garrison
Economics
The Gregory Woirol Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement in Economics
Sergei Jacobs
Education and Child Development
Outstanding Academic Achievement in Child Development
Katherine Christopherson
Daniella Coop
Outstanding Academic Achievement in Education
Daniella Coop
Outstanding Research in Education
Taylor Richter
Outstanding Service to the Department of Education & Child Development
River Danner
Brandon Dube
Kinesiology
Outstanding Contribution to the Department of Kinesiology
Zurie Clark
Outstanding Graduate in Kinesiology
Madisen Diaz
Anthony Wadzinski
Outstanding Graduate in Sports Management
Megan Summers
Political Science
Burnett-Bergerson Political Science Award
Lhaga Dingpontsawa
Lisette Gomez
Psychological Sciences
Outstanding Academic Achievement in the Psychological Sciences
Kayla Carillo
Jeanie Cox
Amanda Farris
Outstanding Scholarship in the Psychological Sciences
Jeanie Cox
Outstanding Service in the Psychological Sciences
Amanda Robles
Carolyne Sparks
Sociology
Charles J. Browning Prize in Sociology
Garrett Ferguson
Lisa Hench
Angela Rivera
Angel Tobar
Outstanding Student in Sociological Praxis
Angel Tobar
Interdisciplinary Programs
Africana & Black Studies
Outstanding Academic Achievement in Africana & Black Studies
Julie-Ann Aryee
River Danner
Gender Studies
Outstanding Academic Achievement in Gender Studies
Lisette Gomez
Camille Gunzburg
Arlo Sandoval
Whittier Scholars
Outstanding Graduate in the Whittier Scholars Program
Aila Benz
Outstanding Service to the Whittier Scholars Program
Sophie Nugent
The Whittier College Writing Program
First-Year Writing Prizes
Angela Abou Zaki
Madison Endo
Elizabeth Roybal
Outstanding Writing Associate
Carolyne Sparks
Service and Leadership Awards
Associated Student of Whittier College Awards
Key to the College Award
Fernando Ramirez
Marilyn Veich Award
Brittany Plascencia-Saldana
Director of the Office of Student Engagement
Richard B. Harvey Award
Cinzia Fissore
Roy E. and Marie G. Campbell Distinguished Chair in Biology
Associate Professor of Environmental Science
