Ridington and Argonaut awards presented at Class of 2024 Commencement

The Edith Farr Ridington Writing Award and the Argonaut Award for the highest cumulative undergraduate GPA were presented Saturday, May 18, during McDaniel College’s 154th Commencement. 

The Edith Farr Ridington Writing Award 

The Edith Farr Ridington Writing Award for the best senior paper was awarded to Zachary E. Brown of Taneytown, Maryland. 

Brown graduates magna cum laude with departmental honors in both Biology and History. His research paper titled “Over the Top, Under the Microscope: World War I and the Redirection of Clinical Microbiology” won the top writing award. 

Under the mentorship of Associate Professor of History Qin Fang, Brown analyzes the ways in which the advent of World War I laid the foundation for the development of curative solutions to bacterial infections such as phage therapy, sulfa drugs, and antibiotics. Brown presented his paper at the Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society Conference and at McDaniel’s third annual Academic Symposium in April.  

Combining his interest in both his majors, Brown’s work demonstrates the interdisciplinary scholarship that happens as part of a liberal arts education at McDaniel. In the paper, Brown walks through the history of key players in immunology and microbiology and the ways that World War I impacted research and how clinicians and researchers worked together. “The war brought the practicality of clinical reasoning into the sphere of microbiological inquiry,” Brown writes. 

While both wars and bacterial infections are still at play in the world today, Brown concludes that “Mankind’s initial triumph over bacterial pathogenesis, no matter its evanescence, might be seen as the bridge which guided microbiology into the post-modern era.” 

During Honors Convocation on May 17, Brown received The Class of 1938 Award for Excellence in Music and The Hugh Barnette Speir, Jr. Prize for a student showing the greatest excellence in European history. He has also performed in the McDaniel College Choir and College Band and is a member of the Alpha Lambda Delta National Honor Society. 

The Argonaut Award 

The Argonaut Award for the highest cumulative GPA during their entire completed courses of study was given to five undergraduates: Haley E. Arnold, Kendall Rose Catlin, Signé T. Kula, Brenna R. Mayberry, and Ariana Kaylin Stormont. 

Haley E. Arnold of Newburg, Maryland, graduates summa cum laude with departmental honors in Psychology. Arnold is a College Scholar, Dorsey Scholar, and was inducted as a member of Omicron Delta Kappa as a junior.  

Kendall Rose Catlin of Sykesville, Maryland, graduates summa cum laude with departmental honors in Psychology. 

Signé T. Kula of Barrington, New Hampshire, graduates summa cum laude with departmental honors in Psychology and a second major in Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies. A College Scholar, Dorsey Scholar, and National Security Fellow, Kula was inducted into both Phi Beta Kappa and Trumpeters as a junior and is also a member of Omicron Delta Kappa. Kula was awarded The Maria Leonard Senior Book Award, The Frank and Margaret Malone Award for Excellence in a Foreign Language, and The Malcolm L. Meltzer Psychology Award at the May 17 Senior Investiture and Honors Convocation. 

Brenna R. Mayberry of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, graduates summa cum laude with departmental honors in English. Mayberry was inducted as a member of Phi Beta Kappa as a junior. 

Ariana Kaylin Stormont of Baltimore graduates summa cum laude with departmental honors in Accounting, Economics, and Business Administration. Stormont is a College Scholar and a member of both Omicron Delta Kappa and Trumpeters. Stormont was awarded The Maria Leonard Senior Book Award at the May 17 Senior Investiture and Honors Convocation.