Seniors Receive 2017 Honors

Yamen Atassi was named 2017 Christ College Distinguished Student by the Valparaiso University Alumni Association this May. Yamen maintained a near perfect grade point average at Valpo. With majors in philosophy and humanities, this is a rare accomplishment. He received Christ College Scholar honors at commencement.
His philosophy comprehensive exam focused on 18th Century Scottish philosopher “Thomas Reid’s Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense.” For his Christ College honors thesis
he wrote “Traditional Islam: Honest to Islamic Principals, Relevant to Modern Times.”
Yamen is a member of the English honorary Tau Delta Pi. He won the Margot Ann Uehling Prize for the best non-fiction writing for his essay “Rejecting Utilitarianism: Dickens’ and Browning’s Defense of Human Nature.”
On campus Yamen is actively engaged with interreligious and intrareligious dialogue. He was a member of the executive committee, treasurer, and now president of the campus Muslim Student Association. In Christ College Yamen was a Tutorial Assistant, one of just 10 seniors chosen to role model academic and community life for incoming freshmen during fall semester.

Student Affairs Outstanding Service and Leadership Awards for 2017 went to CC seniors Tyler Ingersoll, Rebekah Koehn, Samantha Schmidt, Eric Smith, Benjamin Tiemann, and Nura Zaki.

VUAA’s Distinguished Students from the College of Arts and Sciences included Christ College seniors Eric Smith and Jenna Fleming. The College of Engineering 2017 Distinguished Student was Christ College senior Rebeckah Koehn.

In May Phi Beta Kappa inducted 13 Christ College seniors into the distinguished honorary: Caitlyn Alario, Jibria Ali, Yamen Atassi, Maria Bruno, Genevieve Dornemann, Timothy Fingerle, Tobiah Meinzen, Alison Peters, Kylie Schreiber, Eric Smith, Breanna Struss, Abigail Styck, and Lindsey Van Der Aa.

The prestigious Engineering honorary Tau Beta Pi saw 8 Christ College seniors graduate: Chase Greenhagen, Jesse Greenhagen, Matthew Janke, Rebekah Koehn, Samantha Kopping, Aaron Roggow, Matthew Sherrier, and Christine Umerley.

CC sophomore Jessica Hanson’s essay, Manufactured Flood Risk: An Historical Examination of Human-Altered New Orleans won the 2017 Donnelley Prize competition. The essay raised critical questions about humanity’s relationship to the environment. The award is named for Strachan Donnelley, a philanthropist, philosopher, and ecologist, who was an early member of the Christ College faculty. It carries a $750 prize.