85th-annual Honors Convocation
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.
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.
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.
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 Day | Recipient |
| The John Finley Crowe Citation for Scholarship and General Excellence | Hailee Holberton |
| The Henry C. Long Citation for Scholarship and General Excellence | Samuel Piacente |
| The Arthur and Ilene Baynham Outstanding Teaching Award | Sara Patterson |
| The Daryl R. Karns Award for Scholarly and Creative Activity | J. Michael Raley |
| The Alpha Lambda Delta Award | Tori Snook |
| The Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award | Samuel Piacente |
| Kennedy Walton | |
| The Dennis Kovener Award | Alli Andrews |
| The Distinguished Award in Cultural Anthropology | Autumn Webster |
| The Distinguished Award in Art & Design | Rachel Pelfrey |
| The Distinguished Award in Art History | Kelsey Peoples |
| The M.L. Greiner Art Purchase Award | Blessing Culver |
| The Enos Pray Biology Award | Sidney Goedeker |
| The Distinguished Award in Biochemistry | Andrew Littlefield |
| Gerald R. Johnson ’69 Business Scholars Program Academic Excellence Award | Carlos Garcia |
| Betsy Milligan Johnson ’70 Business Scholars Program Achievement Award | Morgan Harrison |
| The Ned Guthrie Chemistry Award | Anna Uhlmansiek |
| The Keith and Gwen White Award for Graduate Study in Chemistry | Ben Payton |
| The Distinguished Award in Communication | Makenzie Carroll |
| The John B. Goodrich Prize in Oratory | Danni Savage |
| The Distinguished Award in Computer Science | Benjamin Givens |
| The Distinguished Award in Economics | Carlos Garcia |
| The Distinguished Award in Elementary Education | Avery Simmons |
| Rebecca Woosley | |
| The Distinguished Award in Secondary Education | Ian Bruton |
| Abby Wilson | |
| The Distinguished Award in Special Education | Noelle Shirley |
| The Hilda M. Cordrey Awards | Kenzie Phillips (1st Place) |
| Avery Simmons (2nd Place) | |
| The Distinguished Award in Engineering | Isaac Ball |
| The Dorothy S. Bucks Award in English | Ellinor Smith |
| The John Livingston Lowes Award in English | Mary Isola |
| The Charles and Dorothy Lynn English Prize | Bradley Hancock |
| The Aubra Jade Hiland Award for Creative Writing | Riley DeLong |
| The Edward J. Hamilton Essay Prize | Carson Chanley (1st Place) |
| Damien Hoover (2nd Place) | |
| The Eli Mace Essay Prize | Madelyn Shelton |
| The Philip R. Taylor Award for Student Publishing | Cameron Mills |
| The Distinguished Award in Environmental Science | Kyle Pfaffenberger |
| The Paul Wallace Sills ’66 Honors Award in Environmental Science | Megan Brandt |
| Sarah Malone | |
| The Distinguished Award in Geology | Sarah Malone |
| The Distinguished Award in Health and Movement Studies | Haley Vescelus |
| The Robert E. Bowers History Award | Bradley Hancock |
| The M. Anwarul Haq International Studies Award | Samuel Piacente |
| Ryan Ruder | |
| Hinata Shono | |
| The Distinguished Award in Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology | Maggie Day |
| Hailee Holberton | |
| The Frank S. Luttmer Award | Harley Johnson |
| The Morse Mathematical Award | Benjamin Givens |
| Erica West | |
| The Dr. John E. Yarnelle Mathematics Prize | Kayla Summerville |
| The Distinguished Award in Music | Cara Stanback |
| The Distinguished Award in Philosophy | Jordan Gibson |
| The Richard L. Conklin Physics Award | Conor McConnach |
| The Fleming Physics Award | Isaac Ball |
| Rio Takagi | |
| The Distinguished Award in Political Science | Morgan Harrison |
| The A. Glenn Mower, Jr. Pre-Law Award | Morgan Harrison |
| The Distinguished Award in Psychology | Steven Delaney |
| Hailee Holberton | |
| The George A. and Sara O. Zirkle Award in Psychology | Cherie Miner |
| The Robert R. and Clara J. Beach Award in Sociology | Aakriti Bista |
| The Distinguished Award in Spanish | Cameron Mills |
| Distinguished Award in Theology | Hope Sprigler |
