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Fall 2009 Commencement
The fall 2009 undergraduate commencement ceremony for Liberal Arts students will be held on Saturday, December 19, at 12:30 p.m., in the Bryce Jordan Center. The Graduate School ceremony will be held on Saturday, December 19, 2009 at 4:00 p.m., in the Bryce Jordan Center.
Laura Newcomer has been selected to represent the entire college as the College Student Marshal. Ms Newcomer is graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and a second major in Geography. An Evan Pugh Scholar, Ms. Newcomer was the recipient of the John and Elizabeth Holmes Teas Scholarship, a Liberal Arts Discovery Grant, and the Edward J. Nichols Award for Prose. She participated in education abroad experiences in Galway, Ireland and Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Ms.Newcomer wrote articles for numerous publications including Kalliope and Voices of Central PA. She was an intern for the Penn State University Press, a peer tutor in the Center for Excellence in Writing, an editorial staff member for Kalliope, and a staff reporter for The Daily Collegian. Her extracurricular activities included serving as an Education Abroad Program Ambassador, volunteering with Habitat for Humanity and Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and participating in environmental conservation projects such as CROP walk and Eco Action.
Jon Olson, M.A., Ph.D., was chosen by Ms. Newcomer to serve as her faculty marshal. Dr. Olson has directed the Center for Excellence in Writing since its inception in December of 1997. He is a Public Scholarship Associate at Penn State, and one of his projects is to find ways a writing center can address issues of community literacy and civic engagement through public scholarship. He was a President of the International Writing Centers Associate 2003-2005 and received the 2008 Ron Maxwell Award for Distinguished Leadership in Promoting the Collaborative Learning Practices of Peer Tutors in Writing.
Information for graduates can be found at: http://www.registrar.psu.edu/graduation/graduation_index.cfm