Undergraduate
Political science graduate receives high honor at Commencement 2009
Kate Mooney praised for many accomplishments, including as leader of the Student Global AIDS Campaign
Contact Information:
Buff Lindau, Public Relations
802.654.2536
blindau@smcvt.edu
Kate Ellyn Mooney, daughter of Thomas and Audrey Mooney of Gray, Maine, earned a bachelor's degree in political science, magna cum laude, from Saint Michael's College at commencement ceremonies May 14, 2009.
Ms. Mooney was also named the 2009 winner of the Katherine Fairbanks Memorial Award, the top award given annually to a woman graduate of the college. She was praised for academic accomplishments, scholarly research and for participation in student government as secretary of academics for the Student Association. She was praised for providing enthusiastic leadership of the Student Global AIDS Campaign for three years, and for her extraordinary commitment to the college's challenging Wilderness program. She was a senior instructor in the program, trainer of new instructors, and a nationally certified kayak instructor.
"Kate's tenacity and determination are legendary," said Dr. Karen Talentino, vice president for academic affairs, in presenting the award. "Dedication, desire and a great capacity to care" characterizes Kate Mooney, Dr. Talentino said. "Kate is an outstanding nominee for the Katherine Fairbanks Award; because of her efforts, Saint Michael's is a better place than when she arrived."
Ms. Mooney was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the national honor society; Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honor society, and Delta Epsilon Sigma, the national Catholic honor society. Ms. Mooney graduated from Gray-New Gloucester High School before coming to Saint Michael's.
Commencement speaker
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan was the featured speaker at the Saint Michael's College 102nd commencement. Closely identifying his personal experiences serving Chicago's poor with the prevailing ethos of service at Saint Michael's, Duncan exhorted graduates to be active agents of accessible education, which he called "the civil rights issue of our time." Describing the Obama administration's ambitious agenda, Duncan said, "You wouldn't scale back your ambitions. You wouldn't cut your dreams in half - and you shouldn't. And neither will the president." Noting that nearly three-fourths of Saint Michael's students engage in some service activity before graduation, the Secretary said, "Your founders established a legacy of working with people in need and today, Saint Michael's is a national model for responsibility and citizenship, producing not just smart people, but good people, too."
Saint Michael's College, founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, is identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nation's Best 368 Colleges. A liberal arts, residential, Catholic college, Saint Michael's is located just outside of Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top college towns and less than two hours from Montreal. As one of only 270 institutions nationwide with a prestigious Phi Beta Kappa chapter on campus, Saint Michael's has 2,000 full-time undergraduate students, some 500 graduate students and 200 international students. In recent years Saint Michael's students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Guggenheim, Fulbright, National Science Foundation and other grants, and Saint Michael's professors have been named Vermont Professor of the Year in four of the last eight years. The college is currently listed as one of the nation's Best Liberal Arts Colleges in the 2009 U.S. News & World Report rankings.
Buff Lindau, Public Relations
802.654.2536
blindau@smcvt.edu
Kate Ellyn Mooney, daughter of Thomas and Audrey Mooney of Gray, Maine, earned a bachelor's degree in political science, magna cum laude, from Saint Michael's College at commencement ceremonies May 14, 2009. Ms. Mooney was also named the 2009 winner of the Katherine Fairbanks Memorial Award, the top award given annually to a woman graduate of the college. She was praised for academic accomplishments, scholarly research and for participation in student government as secretary of academics for the Student Association. She was praised for providing enthusiastic leadership of the Student Global AIDS Campaign for three years, and for her extraordinary commitment to the college's challenging Wilderness program. She was a senior instructor in the program, trainer of new instructors, and a nationally certified kayak instructor.
"Kate's tenacity and determination are legendary," said Dr. Karen Talentino, vice president for academic affairs, in presenting the award. "Dedication, desire and a great capacity to care" characterizes Kate Mooney, Dr. Talentino said. "Kate is an outstanding nominee for the Katherine Fairbanks Award; because of her efforts, Saint Michael's is a better place than when she arrived."
Ms. Mooney was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the national honor society; Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honor society, and Delta Epsilon Sigma, the national Catholic honor society. Ms. Mooney graduated from Gray-New Gloucester High School before coming to Saint Michael's.
Commencement speaker
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan was the featured speaker at the Saint Michael's College 102nd commencement. Closely identifying his personal experiences serving Chicago's poor with the prevailing ethos of service at Saint Michael's, Duncan exhorted graduates to be active agents of accessible education, which he called "the civil rights issue of our time." Describing the Obama administration's ambitious agenda, Duncan said, "You wouldn't scale back your ambitions. You wouldn't cut your dreams in half - and you shouldn't. And neither will the president." Noting that nearly three-fourths of Saint Michael's students engage in some service activity before graduation, the Secretary said, "Your founders established a legacy of working with people in need and today, Saint Michael's is a national model for responsibility and citizenship, producing not just smart people, but good people, too."
Saint Michael's College, founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, is identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nation's Best 368 Colleges. A liberal arts, residential, Catholic college, Saint Michael's is located just outside of Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top college towns and less than two hours from Montreal. As one of only 270 institutions nationwide with a prestigious Phi Beta Kappa chapter on campus, Saint Michael's has 2,000 full-time undergraduate students, some 500 graduate students and 200 international students. In recent years Saint Michael's students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Guggenheim, Fulbright, National Science Foundation and other grants, and Saint Michael's professors have been named Vermont Professor of the Year in four of the last eight years. The college is currently listed as one of the nation's Best Liberal Arts Colleges in the 2009 U.S. News & World Report rankings.
