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MCCC hosts annual Honors Night

Editor’s note: This version of the article includes award winners released in MCCC’s April 26 press release.  

The bright lights shined on the Meyer Theater stage as award nominees anxiously awaited the results of the 38 awards given out to MCCC students and faculty at Honors Night on April 20. 

Dr. Matthew Bird-Meyer, professor of humanities and advisor to the Agora, won the Outstanding Faculty Award.

Bird-Meyer said his wife was out of town and she felt bad she was unable to attend the ceremony. However, he assured her not to worry because he thought he wouldn’t win. 

“Everyone on that list is so much more deserving of this award,” Bird-Meyer said. “Not only that, but I still feel like the new guy on campus, having started in the fall of 2019.”

Dr. Matthew Bird-Meyer accepts the Outstanding Faculty Award from Grace Yackee, Vice President of instruction. (Photo by Lexi Greenwood)

Joe Verkennes, director of marketing and communications, won the Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Award. 

“I have to admit, I was pretty surprised,” Verkennes said. “I guess you just don’t expect to receive an award for something that you do that is so fun and rewarding and enjoyable already.  I am truly honored and flattered.”

There are two recipients of the Faculty Association Oustanding Student Award, Lisa O’Brien and Presley Bergmooser. 

“I was honestly shocked,” Bergmooser said. “I knew that this award was a big deal but I did not think that I had the chance to actually win it.” 

The Student Nurses Association won the Outstanding Student Program of the Year Award. 

Student Government members served as emcees for the evening, with members Colette Tibai and Claire Bacarella being presented with the Dr. Ronald Campbell Student Government Award by Dr. Campbell himself. 

In President Kojo Quartey’s opening remarks, he recounted how Dr. Campbell, as the first President of MCCC, first came to campus when it was just a cornfield and built it into the institution it is today. 

Quartey awarded the President’s Academic Achievement Award to five students this year: Soraya Corcoran, Kaylee Kazimer, Heather Matthews, Elizabeth Rodenbeck, and Jacob Sadowyj. 

Soraya Corcoran also received the Outstanding Business Management Student Award. 

Elisabeth Brockman took home two awards including The George Rhodes Writing Fellow Award and the Outstanding Humanities Student Award. 

Students included on the Dean’s List for both the fall and winter semesters were recognized.

The All-USA Academic Team Nominees Emily Klyder and Rachael Miska were also recognized. 

Presley Bergmooser stands as Patrick Wise, Associate Professor of Psychology, presents her with the Faculty Association Oustanding Student Award. (Photo by Lexi Greenwood.)

The remaining award winners include:

  • The Outstanding Diversity Program of the Year Award recipients are “The Hands that Feed Us” and “A Journey Toward Understanding.”
  • The Outstanding CIS Student Award recpient is Jessica Petrowitsch. 
  • The Outstanding Accounting Student Award recipients are Davic McBee and Angela Gray. 
  • The Outstanding Agriculture Student Award recipient is Sam Costello. 
  • The Outstanding Nursing Student Award recipients are Tracey Jarrett and Chloe Suydam. 
  • The Peer Spirit of Nursing Award recipients are Olivia Scully and Cassandra Kish. 
  • The Outstanding Respiratory Therapy Student Award recipient is Chase Hill. 
  • The Outstanding Welding Technology Student Award recipients are Kevin St. Bernard, Jeron Takacs, and Evan Wielfaert. 
  • The Outstanding Electrical Engineering Technology Student Award recipient is Francis Watters. 
  • The Overall Outstanding ASET Student Award recipient is David Pienta.
  •  The Excellence in Journalism Award recipients are Alexia Greenwood, Emma Marion, Michael Moser, and Marie Underwood. 
  • The Outstanding Journalism Award recipients are Claire Bacarella and Lauren Werlinger. 
  • The Outstanding Freshman Chemistry Award recipient is Cade Fiscus. 
  • The Oustanding Early Childhood Education Student Award recipient is Karalee DeLormier. 
  • The Outstanding Mathematics Student Award recipient is Ella Ryan.