Eight of West Virginia University’s top graduating seniors were awarded the Order of Augusta, the University’s most prestigious student honor, during the Weekend of Honors convocation ceremony tonight (April 16).
The WVU Foundation established the Order of Augusta in 1995 to recognize a highly select group of students based upon their superior scholarship, demonstrated leadership and record of community and public service. A private non-profit corporation, the WVU Foundation generates, receives and administers private gifts for the benefit of the University. The 2004 recipients are: Jan Boyles of Fairmont; Justin Earley of Moundsville; Erin Kalbaugh of Keyser; Kane Maiers of Keyser; Blaire Nuzum of Fairmont; Aaron Peoples of Canonsburg, Pa.; Jason Pizatella of Fairmont; and Ida Stewart of Morgantown.
West Virginia University is recognizing these distinguished seniors who have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments in the areas of scholarship, character, leadership and service,said F. Duke Perry, president of the WVU Foundation.These exceptional students are our future and the Foundation is proud to honor them.
WVU President David C. Hardesty Jr. presented each of the recipients with the Augusta medallion. In addition, each honoree’s name will be inscribed on a plaque located on the Ernest L. Hogan Scholars Walk in front of the Downtown Library Complex. They also become members of WVU ’s Honor Roll, a compilation of student, faculty, staff and alumni award winners being honored throughout the weekend.
The Order of Augusta was so named for its historical significance in the state. Augusta was among the original names considered by the Legislature when the state seceded from Virginia in 1863. Also, the District of Augusta was the original name for a large area in what is now the northern region of West Virginia, including Monongalia County.
Recipients of the Order of Augusta are selected from 30 WVU Foundation Outstanding Seniors, who also were recognized today for their achievements in scholarship, leadership and service. Order of Augusta Honorees
Jan Boyles of Fairmont graduated in December with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a secondary concentration in political science.
She has been active in the Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalismwhether as a writer for an award-winning, nationally recognized cancer project, a mentor to incoming freshmen, a member of the Financial Oversight Committee or a participant in the Broadcast News Club’s activities.
Boyles built an extensive journalism portfolio through reporting internships with The
Dominion Post, The Charleston Gazette and The Sioux Falls Business Journal while maintaining a perfect 4.0 grade-point average. She currently works as a journalist for the Charleston Daily Mail covering K-12 education.
Her proudest moment came when she represented WVU at the state level of the Rhodes Scholarship program.
She is the daughter of George and Kay Boyles.
Justin Earley of Moundsville will graduate from WVU with two bachelor’s degrees, one in political science and the other in sociology.
His 4.0 grade-point average is only a part of his experiences as a student at WVU . He has been involved in several clubs and activities, including Alpha Phi Omega, Golden Key honorary, the WVU Debate Team, Residence Hall Council, National Society of Collegiate Scholars and Eberly College Dean’s Advisory Committee.
Earley’s love for learning has extended beyond WVU . Through the Service Learning Program, he tutored children at Mountainview Elementary School.
For his academic achievements, he has earned the WVU Eberly Scholarship, a WVU Truman Scholarship nomination, the WVU Claude Worthington Benedum Essay Award (two years in a row), Alpha Phi Omega Future Leader Award and West Virginia Political Science Association Claude J. Davis Award.
Earley has two goals after attending law school.
First off, I wish to serve my fellow citizens in the realm of national security. Secondly, having served my country, I wish to return to my roots in scholarship to train the next generation of national security scholars and practitioners,he said.
He is the son of William J. and Carrie Earley.
Erin J. Kalbaugh of Keyser will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a master’s degree in secondary education.
A member of Mountain Honorary, Mortar Board Honorary, Campus Crusade for Christ, and Senior Council, Erin also served as an Honors Program mentor. She has been the recipient of the Neil S. Bucklew Scholarship, Eberly Colleges of Arts and Sciences Scholarship, and the William J. Sturgis and Underwood-Smith Scholarships.
Outside of school, she donates many hours to community projects such as blood drives, and she took an active role in providing flood relief for McDowell County.
During her summers, Kalbaugh has worked with students attending the Governor’s Honors Academy and Governor’s School for Math and Science, and also interned in the Office of Education and the Arts in Charleston.
Of her WVU education, she wrote,I will always be indebted to the developers of the University’s education program. Because of the Benedum Collaborative Model, I have worked with experienced teachers in public schools for three years. The program also has a strong emphasis on technology; thus, I have been trained to design my own web pages and to effectively utilize technology in the classroom.
She is the daughter of Gary and Janet Kalbaugh.
Kane Maiers of Keyser will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in biology and a minor in environmental microbiology. He has been active in many national honoraries, including Beta Beta Beta, Gamma Beta Phi, Golden Key and Phi Sigma Pi.
Maiers’commitment to community service is evident by the numerous projects and organizations he’s been involved with including the Adopt-a-Highway Program, Bartlett Homeless Shelter, Ronald McDonald House and Ruby Memorial Hospital.
He has been recognized as a Governor’s Honor Academy Scholar and Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Scholar. Of his honors, he said representing the University as a Rhodes Scholarship candidate was his most significant experience.
Additionally, he has had the opportunity to undertake two research projectsthe first involving American Ginseng plants in West Virginia and the second involving airborne fungi. Looking back at his time at WVU , Maiers said his experiences as a teaching assistant and biology tutor have helped him prepare for his future career.
As a physician, I must be able to work with people and teach them about health and disease. It is difficult to learn how to become an effective teacher without firsthand experience,he said.
He is the son of Jeff and Rhonda Maiers.
Blaire Nuzum of Fairmont will graduate with bachelor’s degrees in international studies journalism and a minor in French in May.
A 2003 Truman Scholarship finalist, Nuzum has been accepted to the WVU College of Law.
In applying for the Order of Augusta, Nuzum said she values her years at WVU as time that prepared her for the future.
When she was in high school, she remembers watching her friends apply to colleges across the country.
I did not feel the need to leave the mountains that I love,she said.Pursuing my undergraduate degree at this institution has provided me with the four most memorable years of my life.
As Student Government Association elections chair, Nuzum oversaw WVU ’s Homecoming and student body elections. She is a member of the Mortarboard Senior Honorary, Public Relations Student Society of America, Golden Key, Kappa Phi Christian sorority and William Randolph Hearst Senate Youth Alumni Association.
She is the daughter of David A. and JoAnn S. Nuzum.
Aaron Peoples of Canonsburg, Pa., will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and minor in business administration. In February, he made honorable mention on USA TODAY ’s All-USA Academic Team and was also recently honored with the Kenneth D. Gray Student Leadership Award.
He was the president of the American Chemical Society-Student Affiliates, the only student member of the Undergraduate Academic Services Center Advisory Board, the director and founder of the Chemistry Learning Center and a former resident assistant. He has also volunteered for the Special Olympics.
In addition, Peoples has earned numerous honors, including being designated as an Eberly Scholar in 2003 and 2004. He is also a four-time recipient of the CVS /Pharmacy Foundation Scholarship.
To further his knowledge, he obtained an American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine to study muscular dystrophy; and an internship with the Research and Development Analytical Chemistry Laboratory at Mylan Pharmaceuticals.
Looking back at his days at WVU , Peoples said,I am pleased to say that my undergraduate experience at WVU has been the most rewarding and influential time of my life.
He is the son of Mike and Susan Peoples.
Jason Pizatella of Fairmont will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in political science and minors in communication studies and economics.
An honors student, he has made the Dean’s List every semester of his WVU career. He has been recognized as an Eberly Scholar by the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, and Dean’s Leadership Scholar by the Department of Political Science.
For the past year, he served as attorney general in the Student Government Association. His other activities have included the Residence Hall Association, Italian American Organization, Mortar Board, Golden Key, Pi Sigma Alpha, Mountain Honorary and Pi Kappa Phi. He also interned in Gov. Bob Wise’s office.
As graduation time approaches, Pizatella cites his research as being one of the most rewarding experiences of his life.
I worked for over a year in the office of Dr. John Weete, vice president for research and economic development at WVU ,he said.This research experience afforded me the opportunity to participate in numerous initiatives at WVU . However, the majority of my research dealt with biometrics for human identification, the field that is making the Mountain State and WVU emerge as a national leader.
Pizatella will be attending WVU ’s College of Law in August.
He is the son of Tim and Sheila Pizatella.
Ida Stewart of Morgantown will graduate with bachelor’s degrees in English and political science. A member of Mountain Honorary, she is involved in Mortar Board, Sigma Tau Delta national English honorary and Young Democrats, among other organizations.
She has divided her time between school work and many community activities that kept her busy throughout her time as an undergraduate. She has chaired the Gift of Reading Book Tree
Project, Mountaineer Week Read Aloud Program and Honorary 5K Run for the American Cancer Society.
She also helped to organize Monongalia County voter registration drives and assisted with the Morgantown Theatre Company.
Stewart has won several awards such as first place in the Waitman Barbe Creative Writing Contest (poetry division), Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Certificate of Achievement, McKay-Coast scholarship for English majors and a West Virginia Governor’s Honors Academy scholarship.
She said one of the memories she will treasure most is publishing a small book of poems for a creative writing class.
Throughout college, I have achieved the most when I have been willing to surrender my natural limits to the challenges of discoverynew thought processes, new perspectives on the world around me,Stewart said.
She is the daughter of Johanna and Jim Stewart.