Thirty-five students chosen as Syracuse University’s 2008-09 Remembrance Scholars

Monday, April 28, 2008, By News Staff

Thirty-five students chosen as Syracuse University’s 2008-09 Remembrance ScholarsApril 28, 2008SU News ServicesSUnews@syr.edu

Syracuse University’s Remembrance Scholar Committee has chosen the 35 students who will be the 2008-09 Remembrance Scholars.

The scholarships, among the most prestigious awarded by the University, were founded as a tribute to — and means of remembrance for — the 270 people who were killed in the Dec. 21, 1988, bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, 20 years ago this year. Thirty-five students studying through SU’s Division of International Programs Abroad died as they were returning from a semester of study in London and Florence, Italy.

The scholarships are funded through an endowment supported by gifts from alumni, friends, parents and corporations. Significant support for the Remembrance Scholarships has been provided by C. Jean Thompson ’66 and Richard L. Thompson G’67 in memory of Jean Taylor Phelan Terry ’43 and John F. Phelan, Jean Thompson’s parents; and by the Fred L. Emerson Foundation.

Remembrance Scholars are chosen in their junior year through a rigorous and competitive process. Applicants for the $5,000 scholarship were asked to highlight their University activities, including community service. Each applicant also wrote an essay and was interviewed by members of the selection committee, composed of University faculty, staff and students.

“We had a large and exceptionally qualified group of applicants from which to choose the 2008-09 Remembrance Scholars. Many excellent candidates were left out of the group of scholars selected as the final 35,” says David M. Rubin, dean of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and chair of the Remembrance Scholars Selection Committee. “We believe this group has the potential to mount exciting activities surrounding Remembrance Week next fall, and then to graduate and become engaged citizens who will change public policy so that it creates a more just and peaceful world.”

The 2008-09 Remembrance Scholars will be recognized during a convocation in October and will play significant roles in the activities the University is planning for the fall to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the tragedy.

Additionally, the 2008-09 Lockerbie Scholars, Lauren Flynn and Kirsty Liddon, were recently selected. Each year, two students from Lockerbie, Scotland, come to Syracuse for a year of study though the Syracuse-Lockerbie Scholarships, jointly funded by SU and the Lockerbie Trust.

The 2008-09 Remembrance Scholars are:

  • Gary M. Clark of Syracuse, a policy studies major in The College of Arts and Sciences (A&S);
  • Jillian Lee Cole of Hector, N.Y., a civil engineering major in the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science (LCS);
  • Kaitlin M. Dengos of Medway, Mass., an inclusive elementary education major in the School of Education;
  • Graham B. Douglass of Kerrville, Texas, an acting major in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA);
  • Ryan A. Doyle of Niskayuna, N.Y., an architecture major in the School of Architecture;
  • Jackson F. Droney of Erie, Pa., a policy studies and international relations major in A&S;
  • Curtis M. Eatman of Paterson, N.J., a political science and communication and rhetorical studies major in A&S and VPA;
  • Caryn R. Espy of Andover, Mass., a supply chain and retail management major in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management;
  • Anthony M. Fatta of Bridgeport, N.Y., a religion and political science major in A&S;
  • Theresa D. Franzese of Gettysburg, Pa., an architecture major in the School of Architecture;
  • Melissa A. Giroux of Guilford, Conn., a policy studies and magazine journalism major in A&S and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications;
  • Marlene J. Goldenberg of Minnetonka, Minn., a political philosophy, international relations and Spanish major in A&S;
  • Michael S. Grzelak of Center Harbor, N.H., a policy studies and history major in A&S;
  • Samantha Harmon of East Syracuse, N.Y., a sculpture major in VPA;
  • Kimberly N. Harris of Aurora, Ill., a policy studies, political science and magazine journalism major in A&S and the Newhouse School;
  • Melanie G. Hicken of Stevenson Ranch, Calif., a newspaper journalism, history and political science major in the Newhouse School and A&S;
  • Nida N. Javaid of Newburgh, N.Y., a political science and economics major in A&S;
  • Kyle P. Kwiatkowski of Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich., a civil engineering major in LCS;
  • Brianna L. Larson of Orchard Park, N.Y., an acting and history major in VPA and A&S;
  • Melanie D. Mahanna of Clinton, N.Y., an inclusive elementary education and French cultural studies major in the School of Education and A&S;
  • Carissa L. Matthews of Huntington Station, N.Y., a public relations major in the Newhouse School;
  • Shannon M. McLoughlin of Altamont, N.Y., a public relations and marketing major in the Newhouse School and the Whitman School;
  • Marguerite M. Moore of Shaker Heights, Ohio, a television-radio-film and sociology major in the Newhouse School and A&S;
  • Amy Nneamaka Otuonye of Montgomery, N.Y., a chemistry major in A&S;
  • Tinuke C. Oyefule of East Norriton, Pa., an acting major in VPA;
  • Francine A. Palmares of Yonkers, N.Y., a biology major in A&S;
  • Jaclyn A. Pfaehler of Bozeman, Mont., a public relations and international relations major in the Newhouse School and A&S;
  • Matthew S. Reilly of Old Bridge, N.J., a political science and public relations major in A&S and the Newhouse School;
  • Michael E. Rizzolo of Avon, N.Y., a finance and accounting major in the Whitman School;
  • Nana Bulaba Sang-Bender of Syracuse, an international relations major in A&S;
  • Jessica E. Sauve of Rapid River, Mich., a public relations and policy studies major in the Newhouse School and A&S;
  • Brian J. Spendley of Hampton, N.J., a biomedical engineering major in LCS;
  • Jason W. Tarr of Calabasas, Calif., a broadcast journalism, international relations and Spanish major in the Newhouse School and A&S;
  • Thomas D. Wichman of Neenah, Wis., a television-radio-film and finance management major in the Newhouse School and the Whitman School; and
  • Claire S. Zillman of Maywood, Ill., a newspaper journalism and history major in the Newhouse School and A&S.