Dec. 7, 2015 SPRINGFIELD - A total of 48 current and former Missouri State University student-athletes will receive their degrees Friday, Dec. 11 during fall commencement ceremonies at JQH Arena on the Springfield campus.
The athletes represent 10 different sports with field hockey standout Kim Eng topping the list by earning summa cum laude (3.90-4.00 GPA) academic honors, while five student-athletes: softballer Rebecca McPherson and soccer players Rachel Federhofer, Lauren Fussell, Lauren Josten and Brooke Oostendorp earned magna cum laude distinction (3.75 to 3.89 GPA). Nine other student-athletes were cum laude honors recipients (3.50-3.74 GPA), and three students - swimmer Roni Balzam and soccer players Cole Alexander and Jared Gain - are completing post-graduate degrees.
The December 2015 class represents MSU's largest crop of fall athletics graduates on record. So far, during the 2015-16 academic year, a total of 57 Bear student-athletes have earned degrees, including nine in the summer 2015 commencement.
By sport, here are the student-athletes completing their degrees in December 2015:
Baseball (6): Grant Gordon (General Business); Jacob Hall (Accounting)*; Joey Hawkins (Sport & Park Administration), Cory Kay (Communication Studies); Zach Merciez (Psychology); Erik Shannahan (Criminology).
Men's Basketball (1): Christian Kirk (Computer Science).
Football (10): Jake Arthur (Agricultural Marketing & Sales); Robert Booker (Exercise & Movement Science); Shane Hartzler (Construction Management); Ryan Heaston (Sociology); Jermaine Hill (Communication Studies); Maddy Johnson (Information Technology Service Management); Adam Judnich (Logistics & Supply Chain Management); Kevin Presley (Administrative Management); Marcel Roberson (Exercise & Movement Science); Riley Shantz (Administrative Management).
Men's Soccer (8): Cole Alexander (Business Administration, M.B.A.); Brandon Besong (Accounting)*; Jared Gain (Business Administration, M.B.A.), Ricky Hoegg (Criminology); Ryan Navarre (Exercise & Movement Science)*; Andrew Turner (Administrative Management); Addison Watson (Criminology)*; Jack Wood (Psychology).
Men's Swimming & Diving (7): Michal Bulak (Engineering & Applied Physics); Chris Carpenter (Risk Management & Insurance, Finance); Aaron Dennis (Accounting)*; Paul Le (Logistics & Supply Chain Management); Garrett Nevels (Marketing Management); Caleb Schuermann (General Business); Matthew Wilson (Accounting)*.
Field Hockey (3): Kim Eng (Advertising & Promotion)**; Rachel Fuchs (Broadcast Journalism); Lauren Lewandowski (Applied Mathematics)*.
Softball (1): Rebecca McPherson (Exercise & Movement Science)***
Women's Soccer (7): Rachel Federhofer (Exercise & Movement Science)***; Kelsey Fouch (Exercise & Movement Science)*; Lauren Fussell (Criminology)***; Molly Huber (Hospitality & Restaurant Administration); Lauren Josten (Psychology)***; Brooke Oostendorp (Middle School Education)***; Kayla Seabaugh (Professional Writing).
Women's Swimming & Diving (4): Roni Balzam (Chemistry, M.S.); Olivia Gean (Finance)*+; Shea Higgins (Sport & Park Administration); Merideth Swain (Hospitality & Restaurant Administration).
Volleyball (1): Kayln Vlasin (Sport & Park Administration).
* Cum Laude; ** Summa Cum Laude; *** Magna Cum Laude; +Honors College
Missouri State University will confer a total 1,501 degrees to students at its 2015 fall commencement. Two ceremonies will be held at JQH Arena Friday with students graduating from the colleges of Arts and Letters, Health and Human Services, Humanities and Public Affairs and Natural and Applied Sciences, as well as students from the William H. Darr School of Agriculture and global studies majors participating in the first ceremony at 12:30 p.m. Students graduating from the colleges of Business and Education will participate in the second ceremony at 4 p.m.
A total of 1,072 bachelor's degrees, 427 master's degrees and two doctorate degrees will be conferred. Beyond the standard expectations, 46 students will be recognized for their work with a more rigorous curriculum in Missouri State's Honors College.
Scholastic honors will be given to 33 students who will graduate summa cum laude, 55 who will graduate magna cum laude and 127 who will graduate cum laude.
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