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The Roderick BoydÌýPorterÌýScholarship Committee, with the approval of Dr. Bonnie Gunzenhauser, the Vice President of Academic Affairs, congratulatesÌýEmily Blasko and Katie Vasiliauskas for being co-winners of the 2024ÌýPorterÌýScholarship. Congrats, as well, to Tal Barone and Alissa Van Dress for being runners-up.

From their intriguing essays to their interview reflections, from their excellence in the classroom to their passion for and leadership in the Humanities on campus and in the community, these students model reflective, expressive, creative, and active engagement that other students can aspire to. We are grateful for all that our students do to make John Carroll a place where we encounter, reflect on, create, and celebrate the Humanities.ÌýWe are enormously proud and grateful for these students' contributions to this university.

Emily BlaskoÌýis a junior History and Classical Studies major. From Stow, Ohio, she graduated from Stow-Munroe Falls High School in 2022. Emily works two jobs on campus in the History Department and the Recreation department. "I love to read, hang out with friends, and work out in my free time. I have been interested in the humanities throughout my entire life, and I am unbelievably lucky to have the opportunity to devote my studies to the humanities in college."

Emily Blasko

Katie VasiliauskasÌýis a junior pre-med student double majoring in Biology and Spanish & Hispanic studies with a minor in Chemistry. She serves as President of Alpha Sigma Nu, Vice President of the Student Alumni Association, a core team member for the Labre project, Data Coordinator for the Honduras Public Health Immersion, a peer mentor for the Honors Student Association, and an Organic Chemistry TA. Katie is also a member of the cross country and track teams at JCU and works as a student researcher in the Department of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Sciences at the Cleveland Clinic. "Studying the humanities has helped develop my cultural competency and improved my ability to connect with others on a deeper level, which will enable me to become a more compassionate physician in the future."

Katie Vasiliauskas

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Tal BaroneÌýis a Cleveland native and a junior double majoring in English and French with a creative writing concentration at JCU.

Alissa Van DressÌýis an English major from Amherst, Ohio. She has a concentration in professional writing as well as minors in business, classical studies, creative writing, and Spanish and Hispanic Studies. When she’s not face-first in schoolwork, Alissa writes and edits for The Carroll News, cheers for the varsity football and basketball players on the club cheerleading team, consults writers at the JCU Writing Center, and serves on the editorial board for The Carroll Review. She is beyond honored and blessed to have co-founded the Theatre Club at ºÚÁÏ´óÊ with passionate friends. This initiative aims to ensure that the beauty of live theatre remains on the John Carroll stages, a project that hits home for a performer who was saddened to find an absence of theatre on campus, but not hopeless; only determined to restore its place. While she gains life experience everyday, Alissa still considers herself a child at heart. After graduation, Alissa plans to take all of her experience into the classroom to teach children and write literature and music for children's entertainment.

Alissa Van Dress