2011-12 Remembrance Scholars to be honored at Nov. 11 convocation

Thursday, November 3, 2011, By Kelly Homan Rodoski

The 2011-12 Convocation for Remembrance Scholars, honoring 35 outstanding Syracuse University students from this year’s senior class, will be held Friday, Nov. 11, at 3:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel.

The Remembrance Scholarships, among the most prestigious scholarships awarded by the University, were founded as a tribute to the 270 people, including 35 students studying abroad through Syracuse University, who were killed in the Dec. 21, 1988, bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. This year marks the 23rd anniversary of the tragedy.

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 SU Board of Trustees Chairman 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.

Applicants for the $5,000 scholarship were asked to highlight their academic achievements and University activities, including community service. They also wrote essays and participated in interviews with members of the selection committee.

“Once again, it has been my pleasure to be a part of this selection process,” says Suzanne Thorin, University librarian, dean of libraries and chair of the Remembrance Scholar Selection Committee. “These students, who represent the best of our best, also embody our hopes for the future as we remember those whose lives were cut short in the skies over Lockerbie.”

Additionally, each year two students from Lockerbie are selected as Lockerbie Scholars. They spend one year studying at SU on a scholarship before returning to the United Kingdom to complete their university degrees. This year’s scholars, Fergus Barrie and Jessica Liddon, will also be recognized at the convocation. Both SU and the Lockerbie Trust support this award.

Thorin will preside over the convocation, and SU Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor will deliver a message. A Remembrance Scholar will speak on behalf of the group, and Thorin will present the scholars. The Pan Am 103 families will be represented by Jack and Kathleen Flynn, parents of Pan Am 103 victim and Colgate student John P. “JP” Flynn, who was studying at the SU London Center in fall 1988.

A reception will follow the convocation in the Public Events Room, 220 Eggers Hall.

The 2011-12 Remembrance Scholars (and their hometowns and colleges/schools) are:

  • Firdaus H. Arastu of New Hartford, N.Y, The College of Arts and Sciences (A&S);
  • Forrest R. Ball of Naperville, Ill., A&S;
  • Stephen Alexander Barton of Southbury, Conn., A&S;
  • Kelly N. Baug of Hamlin, N.Y., A&S;
  • Laura Elizabeth Beachy of Somerset, Pa., A&S and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications;
  • Erin M. Corbett of Rome, N.Y., A&S and the Newhouse School;
  • Kelly Lynne D’Angelo of Rochester, N.Y., A&S and the Newhouse School;
  • Catherine M. DiVita of Oswego, N.Y., A&S and the Newhouse School;
  • Yonathan Eyob of New York, N.Y., A&S;
  • Oriana I. Fuentes of Lima, Peru, the Whitman School;
  • Calvin L. Iverson of Lexington, Mass., A&S and the Newhouse School;
  • Christopher S. Jennison of Silver Spring, Md., the Newhouse School;
  • Kadiah Oya Kamara of Jacksonville, Fla., A&S;
  • Sean M. Kenney of Martinez, Calif., L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science (LCS);
  • In Gun Kim of Kyunggi-do, South Korea; A&S;
  • Megan Cornelia Kinney of Syracuse, N.Y., LCS;
  • Jordan Taylor LaPlante of Syracuse, N.Y., A&S;
  • Hunt R. Lau of Brooklyn, N.Y., the Whitman School;
  • Junjie Li of Brooklyn, N.Y., the Whitman School;
  • Margot R. Manasevit of Fairfield, Conn., A&S;
  • Whitney Clark Mercer of Shaker Heights, Ohio, A&S and the Newhouse School;
  • Christine Oh of Huntington Station, N.Y., A&S and the Newhouse School;
  • Vera Osafo of Bronx, N.Y., A&S;
  • Scott H. Pepperman of Liverpool, N.Y., David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics;
  • Olivia Marie Rhinehart of Manlius, N.Y., A&S and the School of Education;
  • Kathleen H. Ronayne of Gansevoort, N.Y., the Newhouse School;
  • Jessica L. Smith of Pompton Lakes, N.J., School of Information Studies and the Newhouse School;
  • Margaret V. Spinosa of Baldwinsville, N.Y., A&S;
  • Kathleen Elizabeth Walpole of McLean, N.Y., A&S;
  • Melissa K. Weston of Fairfield, N.J., A&S and the Newhouse School;
  • Evan W. Wichman of East Stroudsburg, Pa., School of Education and VPA;
  • Vivian Yu of Brooklyn, N.Y., A&S;
  • Yifeng Yuan of Syracuse, N.Y., LCS;
  • Ariana Day Yuen of Ma On Shan, Hong Kong, A&S, the Whitman School and the Newhouse School; and
  • Robert B. Zaccaria of Cicero, N.Y., the Whitman School.