Student Laureates To Be Honored The Lincoln Academy Of Illinois

Effingham, IL-(Effingham Radio)- The top students representing Illinois’ colleges and universities will be honored via a pre-recorded Zoom production by The Lincoln Academy of Illinois. The ceremony to recognize the Student Laureates of The Lincoln Academy is historically held every fall at the Old State Capitol State Historic Site in Springfield, but is going virtual again this year due to COVID-19 restrictions on large in-person gatherings.

The 47^th annual Lincoln Academy Student Laureate virtual ceremony will recognize excellence in curricular and extracurricular activities by seniors from each of the state’s four-year, degree-granting colleges and universities, and one student from the community colleges in Illinois. It will be available November 10 at www.TheLincolnAcademyofIllinois.org.

The Zoom production will include a congratulatory statement by Governor J. B. Pritzker, the President of the Lincoln Academy. Academy Vice Chancellor, The Honorable Ron Spears, will give the invocation and Chancellor Frank Clark will make welcoming remarks. Four Laureates of The Lincoln Academy will speak to each of the four recognized pillars Abraham Lincoln’s leadership, and these include: Courage, 2012 Lincoln Laureate and 1990 Student Laureate Jean Driscoll; empathy, 2005 Lincoln Laureate and past Academy Chancellor Stephanie Pace Marshall, PhD; honesty, 2016 Laureate Scott Simon; and integrity, 2014 Laureate Michael ‘Coach K’ Krzyzewski.

Student Laureates will receive a letter and certificate of merit signed by Gov. Pritzker, a Lincoln medallion, a challenge coin, and a $500 check from The Lincoln Academy. Student Laureates are selected by their individual schools. Those to be honored as Class of 2021 Student Laureates include:

Student Laureate,   Institution,     Hometown

• Laura Kathryn Keenan, Augustana College, Chicago, IL
• Gavin Edward Withaeger, Aurora University, Plainfield, IL
• Maryam Salik, Benedictine University, Naperville, IL
• Briana Milich, Blackburn College, Washington, IL
• Nailah L. Brown, Bradley University, Country Club Hills, IL
• Nekoiya O. Washington, Chicago State University, Chicago, IL
• Anna Elizabeth Baumeister, Columbia College Chicago, Jacksonville, FL
• Jesse Muehler, Concordia University Chicago, Fenton, MO
• Ankit Pal, DePaul University, Chicago, IL
• Nathaly Valdivia Oberto-Besso, Dominican University, Chicago, IL
• Asha Thompson, East-West University, Chicago, IL
• Jerimiah A. Boyd-Johnson, Eastern Illinois University
• Hannah Riley Bacon, Elmhurst University, Cincinnati, OH
• Chloe Kaye Overstreet, Eureka College, Kansas City, MO
• Sedona Lynn Smith,    Governors State University, Freeport, IL
• Adin Fleischer, Greenville University, Carlinville, IL
• Lauren Regina Sgambelluri, Illinois College, Springfield, IL
• Joyce Gu, Illinois Institute of Technology, Naperville, IL
• Luke Christian Madden, Illinois State University, Carol Stream, IL
• Daniel John Maisch, Illinois Wesleyan University, Batavia, IL
• Madison Kendall Psinas, Judson University, Pekin, IL
• Rebecca Belle Gadiel, Knox College, New Buffalo, MI
• Hernandez Mizraim, Lake Forest College, Waukegan, IL
• Jada Hoffman, Lewis University, Chicago, IL
• Jacilyn Nicole Gunderson, Lincoln College, Bloomington, IL
• Alex Almanza Hernandez Loyola University Round Lake Beach, IL
• Jessica Ann Hoffmann, McKendree University, Belleville, IL
• Nat Mars Long, Millikin University, Verona, WI
• Elizabeth M. Gustafson,  Monmouth College, Kewanee, IL
• Louwallien D. Krupa,  National Louis University, Orland Park, IL
• Kimberly Nu-Tall, Northeastern Illinois University, Oak Park, IL
• Bry’Shawna A. Walker, North Central College, Lake in the Hills, IL
• Ellen G. Hilbrands, North Park University, Ada, MI
• Megan Nicole Nordstrom, Northern Illinois University, Galva, IL
• Claire Koster, Northwestern University,  St. Louis, MO
• Natalie E. Cook, Olivet Nazarene University, Flint, MI
• Sophie Hills, Principia College, Orleans, MA
• Bailee S. Highbarger, Quincy University, Amboy, IL
• Ryan Nathaniel Callahan, Rockford University, Rockford, IL
• Rose Poplawski, Roosevelt University, Hawthorn Woods, IL
• Katherine M. Hutto, Saint Xavier University, Downers Grove, IL
• Shreva Agarwal, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Pune, India
• Francesca C. Burkett, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Carterville, IL
• Samantha Rae Gallatin, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Machesney Park, IL
• Stephanie Catherine Reitzig, The University of Chicago, Longmont, CO
• Evie Jo Dykhouse, Trinity Christian College, Byron Center, MI
• Catherine Alles, Trinity International University, Wauwatosa, WI
• Courtney J. Washington, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
• Summer L. Warner, University of Illinois Springfield, Paducah, KY
• Alexa Christine Smith, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Geneva, IL
• Jonathan Matthew Wolf, University of St. Francis, Kalamazoo, MI
• Daniel Richard Schmitt,  VanderCook College of Music, Yorkville, IL
• Elizabeth N. Lutz, Western Illinois University, California, MO
• Natalie Ann Schuetz, Wheaton College, Downers Grove, IL
• Edith Sanchez Hernandez, McHenry County College, Harvard, IL

In addition to honoring the state’s Student Laureates, Illinois is unique in the United States in selecting present or former citizens who have made outstanding contributions toward the progress and betterment of humanity to be honored as Laureates of the Lincoln Academy and receive the “Order of Lincoln” from the Governor, a process that has been in place since 1964.

Proceeds from the spring Laureate Convocation are used to support the Student Laureate program each fall. For more information visit www.TheLincolnAcademyofIllinois.org or The Lincoln Academy’s social media sites.