Photo by Fred LeBlanc.

The College community will gather Monday, January 29, at 7:30 pm in Abbey Chapel to recognize students who have excelled in the areas of academics, leadership, and service and to mark formally the beginning of second semester. President Joanne V. Creighton and Daniel J. Czitrom, professor and chair of the Department of History, are this year's convocation speakers. Andrea Ayvazian, dean of religious life; Annemarie Farrell '01, senior class president; and Efraim Eisen, chaplain to the College and adviser to the Jewish community, will also address the audience. College organist Larry D. Schipull and the Mount Holyoke College Chamber Singers, conducted by Christopher Aspaas, will provide music for the event. A reception in the sitting rooms at Pearsons Hall will follow convocation.

Awards Presented at Convocation

At convocation, six students will be honored with special awards. Sophia T. Ghebremicael '01 has won the Maurice L. Rabbino Award, which recognizes a student “who has made an especially significant contribution to the life of Mount Holyoke College.” Joanna M. Dittmer '01 will receive the Helen Warren Smith Award, which honors a student “whose interest, involvement, and service to the Mount Holyoke College community have been outstanding.” The Frances H. Williams Award will go to Angela Hill '01. This award is presented annually to a minority member of the student body “who best exemplifies the ideals to which [Frances Williams's '19] own life has been dedicated—the capacity to create a dream and the passion to pursue it; the ability to soar with that goal whether it be academic excellence, social justice, or service to others.” The MHC Community Service Award will be shared by Meghann Mulherin '01 and Patricia Sanders '01. The award, made possible by the College bookstore, honors involvement in the community beyond the campus that demonstrates a high level of personal commitment. The Karen Snyder Sullivan Memorial Travel Award will go to Andrea L. Leclair '02. It provides assistance for a student who has not previously traveled abroad to plan a trip that satisfies her curiosity and heightens her awareness of other cultures.

Sarah Williston Prize winners will also be announced. They are, for the class of 2001, Mei Fong Chan, first; Leigh Taliaferro Denault, first; Wei Chen, second; Nitya Jacob Kallivayalil, third; and Kathryn Leah Sandretto, third. The following members of the class of 2002 were named Sarah Williston Prize winners: Naomi Sunrise Filoramo, first; Weilai Hua, first; Hannah Mary Knapp, first; Bryony Coupe, fifth; and Katherine Johanna Kaiser, fifth.

The following students have been elected into membership of Phi Beta Kappa by the Theta Chapter of Massachusetts, based on at least five semesters of study at Mount Holyoke. Wei Chen, Jette Christiansen, Leigh Taliaferro Denault, Nitya Jacob Kallivayalil, Jana Christina Koubova, Stefani Dawn Kovacovsky, Kathryn Leah Sandretto, Weixin Shi, and Natasha Edwina Zebrowski.

The following student leaders will be recognized for their service to the College and the wider community: Melani S. Cheers '02, Ioli Christopoulou '01, Joanna M. Dittmer '01, Annemarie O. Farrell '01, Autumn R. Gonzalez '02, Angela Hill '01, Erica P. Lutes '02, Catherine B. Orland '01, and Aili K. Petersen '02,

Also announced will be Sarah Williston Scholars. They are: Alison Rosalind Amenta '01, Jessica Christel Antonellis '01, Mikaila Mariel Lemonik Arthur '01, Shahana Falah Baig '02, Megan Elizabeth Bell '01, Timiny Ellen Bergstrom '02, Mei Fong Chan '01, Melani Shaun Cheers '02, Ioli Christopoulou '01, Kyra Comroe '02, Meaghan Fiona Corwin '02, Bryony Coupe '02, Tuzdy Ly Davis '02, Ann Elizabeth Falor '02, Naomi Sunrise Filoramo '02, Dina Sewell Finkel '02, Susan Rutherford Foster '02, Lisa Anne Fritz '02, Ryoko Fukai '02, Christina Felder Gagliardi '02, Elizabeth Anne Gerchman '02, Tamara Tennille Greaves '02, Nadya Fatima Habib '02, Anna Garretson Hewitt '02, Sarah Whitney Hoffman '02, Mary Brannan Holder '02, Tamara Jennifer Holsinger '01, Weilai Hua '02, Lauren Elisabeth Inman '02, Jane Kyungwon Jung '02, Katherine Johanna Kaiser '02, Hajra Haq Khan '02, Mariko Faith Kikawa '02, Hannah Mary Knapp '02, Jennifer Wyatt Kyker '02, Yushuan Lai '02, Bridget Mary Lee '02, Johanna Stanton Milburn '02, Molly Kathleen Moore '02, Susana Maye Morris '02, Anaka Sundari Nazareth '02, Camille Margaret O'Donnell '02, Kathryn Mary Peek '02, Sarah Ross Pomerantz '02, Charis Quay Huei Li '01, Emily Marie Reiman '02, Emily Elaine Renard '02, Laura Marie Sasur '02, Sarah Tasnim Shehabuddin '02, April Joy Strickland '02, Joanna Meredith Sturiano '02, Molly Ann Sullivan '02, Sierra Elizabeth Thompson '02, Lindsey Anne von Holtz '02, Kirstin Annika Walther '01, Christina Rebecca Weckstrom '02, Ellen Marie Whitney '02, Jennifer Sage Willsea '02, Pan Kwan Yuk '02, and Asja Zujo '02.

Some members of the class of 2001 were honored at last year's convocation ceremonies.

Janet C. Hall '70, former president of the Alumnae Association and Mount Holyoke trustee fellow, will present Mary Lyon Awards to physician and cancer researcher Elizabeth I. Onyemelukwe Garner '89, and to Mona K. Sutphen '89, director of strategic planning and policy at Currenex, Inc., a company that provides operational online global currency exchange for institutional buyers and sellers worldwide. Sutphen has also served as special assistant to former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger. The award is given to an alumna who graduated from the College within the past fifteen years who demonstrates promise or sustained achievement in her life, profession, or community that is consistent with the humane values that Mary Lyon exemplified in her life and inspired in others.