Members of the Elizabethtown College community are continuing to make their marks outside the College bubble even as the academic year ends.

Two seniors recently won Fulbright scholarships. Etownian staff writer Victoria Edwards won a research fellowship and senior Melissa Germano won an English Teaching Assistant scholarship. Both worked with Director of Prestigious Scholarships and Fellowships Jean-Paul Benowitz during the application process.

“Both students were thoroughly involved, engaged and also responsible,” Benowitz said.

Edwards will travel to Japan to study political participation among Japanese youths. She plans to turn documentation of rallies and demonstrations into a digital archive.

“It’s 100 percent a passion project,” Edwards said.

She found out she won only after Benowitz encouraged her to check her email, implying he already knew. Edwards will stay in Japan from September 2019 through July 2020.

Germano wanted to try for a Fulbright after she spent a semester in Valladolid, Spain, where she taught English in two classrooms and for three families. She learned that she won in late March.

“I went into student teaching the day after I found out, and my mentor teacher said I looked like I was floating,” Germano said.

Germano will teach English for nine months while doing volunteer work with immigrants in the area. She said she would like to thank those who helped her through the Fulbright process.

Benowitz also helped induct Etown’s first members of the Alpha Alpha Alpha honor society for first-generation college students. Moravian College Associate Provost Carol Traupman-Carr invited the College to start a chapter after forming the honor society at Moravian in 2018. The chapter’s first inductees included junior Etownian Sports Editor Amity Radcliff, alumnus Ramon Rios III and professor of engineering and physics Dr. Kurt DeGoede.

“This means, moving forward, first generation students in the Momentum program, alumni and faculty and staff who were first generation college students will be recognized for their achievements,” Benowitz said in an email.

Junior biotechnology major Sara Luckinbill recently won a prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for collegiate scientists, mathematicians and engineers. She is the third Etown student to win the scholarship and the first to win in 12 years. Luckenbill was one of 300 college sophomores and juniors to win out of 1223 nominated students from 443 schools.

Senior business majors Anastassiya Sayenko, Felix Goettfert and Anthony Knight recently won a round of the CFA Institute’s Research Challenge, advancing to the North American Regional stage of the competition. The goal of the competition is to conduct detailed company research and deliver a paper and presentation about the company’s stock projections.

Associate professor of finance Dr. Emma Neuhauser advised the group starting in the fall semester.

“[The students] really took the lead, and that made the process rewarding for everyone involved,” Neuhauser said.

The group researched the discount store Five Below. Sayenko said one of the biggest challenges was balancing a full load of student work with the work required for the challenge.

“[Winning] was almost a relief because of the insane amount of hours we put into this project,” Sayenko said. “It was amazing to be recognized for all the work we’d done.”

The students competed at the next round the week of Tuesday, April 23.
Some of Etown’s Stamps Scholars attended a national conference April 11 through April 14 in Atlanta. Senior Etownian staff writer Shaye DiPasquale and sophomore Matt Smith created and led their own “thread,” or themed group of activities, at the conference. About 100 Stamps Scholars from around the country joined the thread, which included a panel discussion and a visit to the King Center DiPasquale and Smith organized. The theme for the thread was “Peace, Nonviolence and Social Justice Past and Present,” which Smith said fits Etown and its roots in historic peace churches.

“Etown is a school people might not recognize, so [attending the conference and running the thread] were great ways to kind of put us on the map,” DiPasquale said.

At the end of the conference, Stamps Family Charitable Foundation co-founder E. Roe Stamps IV recognized DiPasquale and Smith for their work.
“Having [Stamps] thank us was super humbling because in a way, we spent the weekend thanking him,” DiPasquale said.

Wednesday, April 17, the annual Student Awards Ceremony concluded with the presentation of eight Distinguished Student Awards and the Points of Distinction Award. Senior Emily Wieder won a Distinguished Student Award.

“It was so interesting to hear what other people are doing that I forgot that my award was coming at the end,” she said in an email interview.

“I want every Etown professor with whom I have ever taken a class to know that I am grateful for their support.”

Senior Brooke Mazzone won the Points of Distinction award, which is given to a senior who best embodies the College’s mission and values. “I am not ashamed to admit I cried,” Mazzone said in an email regarding the moment she received the award.

After graduation, Mazzone will work with Lancaster County Children & Youth Services as a case worker. She will also continue managing her nonprofit Todd’s Angels, which provides clothes for babies born into foster care.