At the 148th commencement ceremonies at Frostburg State University in May, the following area residents earned bachelor's degrees: Joseph Borek, of Woodbine, business administration; Jeannie Brauning, of Finksburg, nursing; Corey Byram, of Sykesville, law and society; Zachary Dowling, of Westminster, political science and law and society; Eric Gontrum, of Eldersburg, mass communication; Brittany Hillman, of Westminster, early childhood/elementary education; Rachael Mason, of Sykesville, nursing; Chelsie McCoy, of Hampstead, early childhood/elementary education; Susan Nelson, of Eldersburg, nursing; Alexander Nichols, of Sykesville, art and design; Julie Plescia, of Sykesville, nursing; Jessica Prejean, of Westminster, art and design; Casey Selby, of Sykesville, nursing; Jessica Warren, of Westminster, earth science and geography.
The following local students have been named to the University of Delaware dean's list for the spring 2016 semester: Sarah Ashwood, of Manchester; David Baquet, of Union Bridge; Hannah Barr, of Finksburg; Olivia Baumgardner, of Sykesville; Rebecca Charnley, of Sykesville; Meghan Coyne, of Westminster; Kimberly De Benedictis, of Eldersburg; Rebecca Estes, of Westminster; Michael Fitzgerald, of Sykesville; Emiline Fogarty, of Hampstead; Alyson Grassi, of Sykesville; Sara Hall, of Sykesville; Kyle Holmes, of Eldersburg; Alani Johnson, of Sykesville; Jillian Luetje, of Union Bridge; Ashley McLenithan, of Westminster; Andrea Miller, of Westminster; Madison Pierson, of Sykesville; Richard Rosas, of Taneytown; Jessica Smith, of Woodbine; Rebecca Weinschenk, of Eldersburg; Daniel Welliver, of Westminster; George Wieber, of Sykesville; Steven Winter, of Westminster. The dean's list, an honor conferred at the end of the fall and spring semesters, recognizes outstanding academic performance by undergraduate students. Undergraduate students who have been graded in a minimum of 12 credits counting toward their GPA for the semester and who have earned a minimum 3.33 GPA for a given semester are honored.
Wheaton College student Sean Duke, of Keymar, was recognized with the Homer G. and Blanche C. Benton Scholarship, during the college's Honors Convocation. The scholarship is a merit-based award given to a third-year liberal arts engineering student who stays in residence on the Wheaton College campus and is involved in the college community for their entire five-year program. Students receiving this award receive financial support for the last three years of the five-year program and must finish their engineering degree with a local engineering school such as the Illinois Institute of Technology or University of Illinois – Chicago.
John-Edward Porter, of Westminster, was among more than 3,000 students from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, who received degrees during spring commencement exercises May 14. Porter received a Master of Architecture degree, majoring in architecture.
Emma Kumpf, of Finksburg, graduated from The College of New Jersey with a Bachelor of Arts in international studies during the school's May 19 and 20 commencement ceremony.
The following local students have been named to the dean's list for the spring 2016 semester at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa.: Emily Rose Bartholet, Woodbine, rising sophomore English major, graduate of Century High School; Jacob Rubenstein, Sykesville, rising sophomore, graduate of Boys' Latin School of Maryland; Madeleine Stone Gardner, Westminster, rising junior Spanish and neuroscience major, graduate of Gerstell Academy; Hannah M. Gore, Westminster, rising junior French & Francophone studies and English major, graduate of Winters Mill High School; Henry George Rincavage, Westminster, rising senior archaeology and philosophy major, graduate of Francis Scott Key High School. All students earning a position on the dean's list must have a grade point average of 3.7 or above on a 4.0 GPA scale for the semester.