Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) honored its most-accomplished members of the Class of 2008 on Thursday, May 15, at the annual Encaenia awards ceremony.
The event, which took place in the Rose Hill Gymnasium, drew students, friends and family to celebrate membership in honor societies such as Phi Beta Kappa, winning Fulbright fellowships and other scholarships, and a host of other achievements.
The Claver Award, which is named for St. Peter Claver, an 18th-century Spanish Jesuit, was presented to Michael Partis. It is given by Fordham’s Jesuit community to the FCRH senior who most exemplifies the University’s dedication to community service.
Caitlin A. Ahern received the Fordham College Alumni Award, which is a chair presented to the student who best shows the Fordham spirit of excellence in academic, service and extracurricular activities.
In her valedictory address, Laura M. Barker told her fellow classmates that the collaboration they undertook to earn their degrees would pay off after graduation.
“We haven’t earned our degrees in isolation,” she said. “Instead, the learning each of us has experienced is the product of the interchange of ideas that is taking place inside our classrooms.”
Brennan O’Donnell, Ph.D., dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill, reminded students that when they came to Fordham four years ago, he too was a newcomer of sorts, having assumed the position of dean only eight weeks prior. Like them, he considered himself to be fellow traveler on a journey that would end with an invitation to join Fordham’s legacy.
“I’ve been honored to accompany you on that journey. I’ve learned a great deal from you,” he said. “I’ve been deeply heartened by the extent to which you show in your academic work, in your service and in the way you treat each other, that you have fully accepted the invitation that Fordham extended to you to become full and life-long members of this community.”
