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Six graduating seniors - from left to right, Jenny Sayers, Dan Rousseau, Leah Brown-Wilusz, Martha Divver, Logan Senack and Kyle McCauley - celebrate after receiving their Honors medals.

President Hogan gives an address at the Honors Medal Ceremony Saturday, May 3, 2008.

Honors Students Earn Their Medals

Alumna, Professor, 240 Seniors Receive Honors Awards

By: Andrew Peters

Posted: 5/11/08

President Michael J. Hogan, Honors Program Director Lynne Goodstein and a full house of family and friends gathered for the awarding of honors medals to more than 240 seniors graduating with honors May 3 in Rome Commons Ballroom in South Campus.

The fifth-annual celebration marked "the culmination of aspirations, hopes and dreams of honors students," Hogan said. "The best of the best."

The ceremony began with addresses from Hogan and Goodstein, then the awarding of annual honors and the presentation of the
medals.

Bonnie Sarno Vontell, a UConn graduate who has worked in law, theology, politics and business, was given the second-annual Honors Distinguished Alumna Award and delivered the alumni address.

Honors Council President Samantha Sherwood presented the Honors Outstanding Faculty Award to Steven K. Wisensale, a professor of public policy in the Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) department.

"Thank you for making my life interesting and meaningful," Wisensale said upon receiving the award. "I would like to thank the students for keeping me going."
Honors and University Scholar Adam Tarr gave the keynote address, reflecting on his classmates' journey from orientation to graduation.
"We had a goal to graduate with honors, and at first that seemed so far away," Tarr said. "[Now] we've reached the top, and we celebrate together one last time."

Then the honors scholars, dressed in the traditional black gowns, were called individually to receive their medals from Hogan and a group of professors on the stage.

Goodstein recognized the 23 University Scholars in the class - the highest honor awarded by the university - before making the ceremony's closing remarks.

"It is really remarkable your contribution to the life of this campus," she said. "Most importantly, you have all taken control of your educations."

After the medals were awarded, students and family members filed out of the ballroom to music played by the Hartford Brass Ensemble and reconvened for refreshments in the adjoining reception areas.

When asked what they enjoyed most about the honors program, most students praised the small class sizes, in-depth focuses, and research opportunities that the program provides.

"I'd definitely do it again," said Alon Dagan, a University Scholar whose project focused on a robotic device for childhood cerebral palsy. "All of the honors classes I took I enjoyed."

For Goodstein, the class of 2008 is one she won't soon forget.

"I know this class better, and I feel very close to them," she said. "This was a class that was very energetically experimental. They exercised that energy by traveling to various challenging countries and being involved in all of these research projects."

Contact Andrew Peters at Andrew.Peters@UConn.edu.