LATROBE, PA – Saint Vincent College presented awards to its faculty, administrators and graduating students during the 2026 Spring Honors Convocation celebrated Wednesday afternoon, April 22, in the Saint Vincent Archabbey Basilica.
Dr. David A. Dzombak, C’79, Hamerschlag University Professor Emeritus in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, delivered the Convocation address, titled “In Gratitude for a Liberal Education.” He received the Saint Vincent College Presidential Medal of Honor.
Father Paul Taylor, O.S.B., C’87, S’91, PhD, president of Saint Vincent College, presented Carolina Walters, a philosophy and theology double major from Latrobe, with the 52nd annual President’s Award, the College’s highest student honor.
The award is given to the member of the graduating class who best embodies Saint Vincent’s Catholic, Benedictine and liberal arts values of academic achievement, leadership and community service.
Walters serves as team captain of the College’s World Series of Birding team and secretary of the Respect Life Club. She helped plan the Marian Procession for Campus Ministry, within which she has taken on various leadership roles.
She volunteers at Westmoreland Food Bank and as a notetaker for peers with learning needs. As a student-athlete, Walters serves as tennis team captain and recently eclipsed 100 career wins. She also plays for the College’s lacrosse team.
In summer 2023, Walters spent several months at Our Lady of the Rock Monastery in Washington, where she formed friendships with the Benedictine community. She plans to work in the Catholic publishing field.
Finalists for the prestigious President’s Award were Victoria Barone, a mathematics and data science double major from North Huntingdon; Cassandra Lanza, a computer science major from Marysville; Grace Scoville, an organismal biology major from Broadview Heights, Ohio; and Kennedy Sheriff, an English major pursuing secondary education certification from Shippensburg.
Faculty honorees were Dr. Mary Regina Boland, C’10, assistant professor of data science in the Herbert W. Boyer School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Computing, who won the Quentin Schaut Faculty Award; Dr. Jason Jividen, the Philip M. McKenna Endowed Chair in American and Western Political Thought and associate professor of political science in the Alex G. McKenna School of Business, Economics and Government, who won the Boniface Wimmer Faculty Award; and Dr. Jerome Foss, assistant vice president for academic affairs and Core Curriculum and professor of political science in the McKenna School, who won the Student Government Association (SGA) Faculty Award.
Additionally, the SGA presented its Administrator Award to Dr. Dana Winters, C’06, vice president for enrollment and student success at Saint Vincent College.
Other awards included the Honorable Judge Bernard Scherer Award, which was presented to Deacon Brian Myler, S 26; the John and Theresa Ragan Poetry Award, which was presented to senior Sophia M. Nelson; the Class of 1968 Fr. Ronald R. Gorka Scholarship Award, which was presented to junior Iverson A. Agyei, with juniors Katherine L. Folmar and Rachel S. Zgurich as runners-up; and the SGA Senior Awards, which were presented to Colt R. Easterling, Andrew Gelin, Lindsey E. Moretti, Julie L. Peterson and Braden M. Thomas. Junior John F. Quinn and senior Kaitlin M. Waltman were the 2025-26 Elizabeth and Tom Andreoli Traveling Scholar awardees.
Awards for Academic Excellence in the Major Field of Study, which recognize graduating students with the highest grade-point average in each program of study, were awarded to the following:
Graduate
Undergraduate
The following students received special citations and awards for academic excellence in a certification area:
The following students received A.J. Palumbo Student Research Endowment Fund Awards:
