Bates Prize and Mary Ward Lewis Prize awarded at Senior Investiture and Honors Convocation
Jessia Marie Avila, a Political Science and Marketing major, received The Mary Ward Lewis Prize as the outstanding female member of the graduating class, while Andrew Gabriel Witten, Business Administration major, was awarded The Bates Prize for the outstanding male graduating senior.
The Bates Prize and the Mary Ward Lewis Prize were awarded on May 20 during McDaniel College’s Senior Investiture and Honors Convocation for the Class of 2022.
The Mary Ward Lewis Prize
The Mary Ward Lewis Prize recipient is Jessia Marie Avila, who graduates summa cum laude and a College Scholar with departmental honors in Political Science and a second major in Marketing. In addition to The Mary Ward Lewis Prize, she also received The Maria Leonard Senior Book Award.
Avila entered McDaniel as a Dorsey Scholar through McDaniel’s most prestigious scholarship competition. During her time at the college, she has been an active member of the McDaniel community. She is a Global Fellow and studied abroad at McDaniel’s European campus in Budapest, Hungary, during her freshman year. She is a member of the McDaniel Honors Program and participated in the Model United Nations and Model European Union. Avila has also been involved with Palabras to Words, a student organization that helps non-English speakers learn English, and with McDaniel’s chapter of the National Society of Leadership and Success.
She is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa national honor society and was one of 20 students selected from over 600 applicants across the nation as an inaugural Key into Public Service Scholar by The Phi Beta Kappa Society. She is also a member of Alpha Lambda Delta (First Year Seminar), Pi Sigma Alpha (Political Science), Phi Sigma Iota (Foreign Languages), and Pi Gamma Mu (Social Sciences) honor societies, as well as the Omicron Delta Kappa national leadership honor society.
Outside of McDaniel’s campus, she has volunteered with The Arc of Carroll County, Maryland State Archives, Willett Family Farm, On Earth Piece, and The Borgen Project, and was chosen to participate through the Maryland Public Service Scholars Programs as a fellow in the Governor’s Summer Internship Program.
The Bates Prize
The Bates Prize was awarded to Andrew Gabriel Witten, who has been a leader and advocate for the McDaniel campus community throughout his time on the Hill. A Business Administration major with a minor in Sports Management, he is graduating magna cum laude.
In his role as president of the Jewish Student Union, Witten is an advocate for student belonging on campus and frequently coordinated with the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
“I have had the pleasure of working with many others to continue to grow the awareness of the Jewish population of students on campus and provide a safe place for people Jewish or not to come and embrace the Jewish culture,” he says.
Witten is a member of the Trumpeters, a leadership honor society. He is also a leadership committee member and four-year athlete on the Green Terror football team and has participated in the ultimate frisbee club and intramural sports. As a student ambassador in the Office of Admissions, he regularly engages with campus visitors. He has also conducted community service as a member of the Alpha Phi Omega National Co-ed Service Fraternity and with the Green Life environmental club.
Witten recently interned with the ballpark operations team for the Baltimore Orioles and plans to pursue a career in sports after graduation.
