85th-annual Honors Convocation

2022 Honors Convocation major award recipients
Hanover College Seal

Hanover College celebrated the academic achievements of its students and faculty during the 85th-annual Honors Convocation. The annual event was held April 14 in Fitzgibbon Recital Hall, Lynn Center for Fine Arts.

Hailee Holberton ’22 and Samuel Piacente ’22 received Hanover’s highest student awards. The top faculty honors were presented to professors Sara Patterson and J. Michael Raley.

Photo gallery

Holberton earned the John Finley Crowe Citation for Scholarship and General Excellence. She also received the Distinguished Award in Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology and the Distinguished Award in Psychology.

Hanover student award recipients Hailee Holberton and Samuel Piacente

A double major in psychology and kinesiology and integrated physiology, Holberton earned Dean’s List honors every term during her four-year Hanover career.

She has enhanced her classroom experience as a research assistant in psychology, completed an occupational and speech therapy medical externship and served as a research intern at the Englishton Park Summer Camp. Her senior research, presented at the Butler University Undergraduate Research Conference, focused on the perceptions of and stereotypes in professionalism.

Outside the classroom, Holberton has served on the Student Philanthropy Committee and Student Academic Assistance Committee. She has also worked as a student assistant for advancement services and residence life, as well as serving as hall director for the Crowe Hall and Lynn Hall communities.

Piacente received the Henry C. Long Citation for Scholarship and General Excellence. He also earned the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, which recognizes excellence of character and humanitarian service, and the M. Anwarul Haq International Studies Award.

A double major in international studies and art and design, Piacente has been active in the campus community in multiple capacities.

He served two years as student hall director, working with the communities in the Ogle Center and Crowe, Donner, Ide, Lynn halls. He recently completed a yearlong term as the president of Student Senate and has also served on the College’s Equity, Inclusion and Multicultural Education Committee. In addition, he is founder and president of Hanover Queens and Kings, been a tutor for the Gladish Learning Center and student ambassador.

Off campus, Piacente completed a human resources internship with The Carter Center in Atlanta, Ga., last summer. Locally, he has supported the chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays through mentorship and fundraising campaigns.

Patterson, professor of theological studies, earned the Arthur and Ilene Baynham Outstanding Teaching Award.

Hanover professors Sara Patterson and J. Michael Raley

Established by the College in 1969, the honoree is selected by a ballot of currently enrolled students and alumni from the past two graduating classes. To be eligible, a faculty member must be in at least the fourth year of teaching at the College. The winner receives a bronze medallion and a cash prize.

Patterson, who joined Hanover’s faculty in 2008, teaches and writes about how gender, race and ethnicity affect religious experiences and religious communities. Her research interests investigate the intersections of religious experience, place and community.

Patterson, along with co-author Amy Hoyt, received an Award of Excellence from the academic journal “Gender & History” for their 2012 article “Mormon Masculinity: Changing Gender Expectations in the Era of Transition from Polygamy to Monogamy, 1890-1920.” She received a Luce Fellowship from the Society of Arts in Religious and Theological Studies in 2010-11 to support her study of Leonard Knight’s “Salvation Mountain,” a piece of outsider, religious art in the California desert. In this ongoing project, she examines the ways that sight, sound and touch operate in the exchange between the artist and visitors.

Raley, professor of history, received the Daryl R. Karns Award for Scholarly and Creative Activity.

The award, named for the biology professor who died in 2011, recognizes sustained scholarly or creative achievement. Faculty members nominate colleagues for the award, which are sent to three judges at liberal arts colleges similar to Hanover. The winner receives a bronze medallion and a cash prize.

A member of Hanover’s faculty since 2013, Raley teaches courses on medieval Europe, Italian Renaissance, Tudor and Stuart England and the Reformation era, as well as the modern West, world history and the history of human rights in theory and practice. His research interests focus on legal, social, gender and cultural history of late medieval and early modern Europe and the history of the American Midwest during the 19th century.

Prior to becoming a historian, Raley was an orchestral musician in Flensburg and Krefeld, Germany, and, later, with the Louisville Orchestra. He taught music courses and directed brass ensembles at the University of Louisville, Baptist Theological Seminary and Kentucky State University.

He continues to perform as principal trombonist with the Louisville Philharmonia Orchestra and also with the Commonwealth Brass Band.

85th-annual Honors DayRecipient
The John Finley Crowe Citation for Scholarship and General ExcellenceHailee Holberton
The Henry C. Long Citation for Scholarship and General ExcellenceSamuel Piacente
The Arthur and Ilene Baynham Outstanding Teaching AwardSara Patterson
The Daryl R. Karns Award for Scholarly and Creative ActivityJ. Michael Raley
The Alpha Lambda Delta AwardTori Snook
The Algernon Sydney Sullivan AwardSamuel Piacente
Kennedy Walton
The Dennis Kovener AwardAlli Andrews
The Distinguished Award in Cultural AnthropologyAutumn Webster
The Distinguished Award in Art & DesignRachel Pelfrey
The Distinguished Award in Art HistoryKelsey Peoples
The M.L. Greiner Art Purchase AwardBlessing Culver
The Enos Pray Biology AwardSidney Goedeker
The Distinguished Award in BiochemistryAndrew Littlefield
Gerald R. Johnson ’69 Business Scholars Program Academic Excellence AwardCarlos Garcia
Betsy Milligan Johnson ’70 Business Scholars Program Achievement AwardMorgan Harrison
The Ned Guthrie Chemistry AwardAnna Uhlmansiek
The Keith and Gwen White Award for Graduate Study in ChemistryBen Payton
The Distinguished Award in CommunicationMakenzie Carroll
The John B. Goodrich Prize in OratoryDanni Savage
The Distinguished Award in Computer ScienceBenjamin Givens
The Distinguished Award in EconomicsCarlos Garcia
The Distinguished Award in Elementary EducationAvery Simmons
Rebecca Woosley
The Distinguished Award in Secondary EducationIan Bruton
Abby Wilson
The Distinguished Award in Special EducationNoelle Shirley
The Hilda M. Cordrey AwardsKenzie Phillips (1st Place)
Avery Simmons (2nd Place)
The Distinguished Award in EngineeringIsaac Ball
The Dorothy S. Bucks Award in EnglishEllinor Smith
The John Livingston Lowes Award in EnglishMary Isola
The Charles and Dorothy Lynn English PrizeBradley Hancock
The Aubra Jade Hiland Award for Creative WritingRiley DeLong
The Edward J. Hamilton Essay PrizeCarson Chanley (1st Place)
Damien Hoover (2nd Place)
The Eli Mace Essay PrizeMadelyn Shelton
The Philip R. Taylor Award for Student PublishingCameron Mills
The Distinguished Award in Environmental ScienceKyle Pfaffenberger
The Paul Wallace Sills ’66 Honors Award in Environmental ScienceMegan Brandt
Sarah Malone
The Distinguished Award in GeologySarah Malone
The Distinguished Award in Health and Movement StudiesHaley Vescelus
The Robert E. Bowers History AwardBradley Hancock
The M. Anwarul Haq International Studies AwardSamuel Piacente
Ryan Ruder
Hinata Shono
The Distinguished Award in Kinesiology and Integrative PhysiologyMaggie Day
Hailee Holberton
The Frank S. Luttmer AwardHarley Johnson
The Morse Mathematical AwardBenjamin Givens
Erica West
The Dr. John E. Yarnelle Mathematics PrizeKayla Summerville
The Distinguished Award in MusicCara Stanback
The Distinguished Award in PhilosophyJordan Gibson
The Richard L. Conklin Physics AwardConor McConnach
The Fleming Physics AwardIsaac Ball
Rio Takagi
The Distinguished Award in Political ScienceMorgan Harrison
The A. Glenn Mower, Jr. Pre-Law AwardMorgan Harrison
The Distinguished Award in PsychologySteven Delaney
Hailee Holberton
The George A. and Sara O. Zirkle Award in PsychologyCherie Miner
The Robert R. and Clara J. Beach Award in SociologyAakriti Bista
The Distinguished Award in SpanishCameron Mills
Distinguished Award in TheologyHope Sprigler