More than half (59 percent) of the graduating class hails from Maryland, with Pennsylvania (13 percent) and New Jersey and Virginia (7 percent each) as the next most represented states. Graduates also hail from the following countries: Angola, Cameroon, Canada, China, Cote D'Ivoire, Guatemala, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, South Korea, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and Vietnam.
Overview of Graduating Class
Bachelor’s graduates participating in the ceremony, by school:
- The College of Liberal Arts - 133
- The Richard J. Bolte, Sr. School of Business - 143
- The Division of Education and Human Services - 26
- The School of Natural Science and Mathematics - 111
Master’s graduates participating in the ceremony, by degree:
- Master of Arts in Teaching - 21
- Master of Business Administration - 39
- Master of Health Administration - 8
- Master of Science in Biotechnology and Management - 7
- Master of Science on Sport Management - 4
The Mount is marking its inaugural graduating classes in two majors that equip students to keep our nation safer. Five graduates earn a forensic accounting degree and three had a double major in computer science and cybersecurity. In addition, 18 graduates from the Richard J. Bolte Sr. School of Business began their Mount connection as members of the Warriors to Workforce program, a partnership between the Department of Veterans Affairs and Mount St. Mary’s University.
People to Know
Commencement speaker - Agnus Berenato
Acclaimed college women's basketball coach Agnus Berenato, C’80, will deliver this year’s commencement address. As a highly respected coach, she incorporates lessons learned from her own heroes and mentors into her bold, yet compassionate, coaching style which has always emphasized the development of the whole person. By encouraging her student-athletes to complement their athletic performance with academic achievement, she is honored to say every one of her student-athletes who has completed their eligibility has graduated. After serving for eight years on the university’s Board of Trustees, she is now a Trustee Emeritus. She also holds an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the Mount.
Notable graduates, listed in alphabetical order:
Lea Findley
Findley is among the five inaugural graduates in the forensic accounting program. "Majoring in forensic accounting has really sharpened my oral communication skills as well as my investigative skills that I plan on utilizing in the workforce," Findley said. She was on the Dean's List in all four years.
After graduation - Financial institution specialist at Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
Victoria Graham
Graham is the recipient of the John M. Kolon Memorial Award for a graduating student who demonstrates outstanding courage and is an inspiration to the Mount community. Graham completed her interdisciplinary degree in business, health care management and marketing as an adult undergraduate at the Frederick campus after she withdrew from college due to severe neurological complications of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. She recently was inducted into the Alpha Sigma Lambda Honor Society, which recognizes adult learners for achieving academic excellence while balancing competing challenges of work and family life. While completing her studies, Graham founded The Zebra Network, which works to increase awareness, education, advocacy and support for patients with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.
After graduation - Staff assistant and digital assistant to U.S. Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger.
Dylan Holden
Holden is corecipient of The Seton Prize for the student with the highest GPA maintained throughout the course in biology. In November 2017, Holden became the Mount's first-ever semifinalist for the Marshall Scholarship. Holden, a first-generation college student, is a leader at the Mount, serving as a student teaching assistant in general biology and general chemistry and a certified peer tutor through the Learning Services department as well as founder of the Mount’s weightlifting club and cofounder of the coffee brewing club. He has won the university’s Della Ratta Award, given to the student who displays the highest capabilities in sciences, liberal arts and moral character; the Reverend Carl Fives Scholarship for excellence in academic coursework and contributions to the local community; and the Cambridge Pembroke-King’s Scholarship to study abroad at University of Cambridge for a summer term. In addition, he founded the Archer Addiction Foundation, a nonprofit organization charged with raising awareness about drug and substance abuse in Franklin and Fulton County, Pennsylvania, and donating money to local counseling centers for substance abuse therapy.
Andrew McDonald
McDonald is among the three inaugural graduates in cybersecurity, all of whom also majored in computer science. He served as president of the senior class and can often be seen around campus with a camera around his neck, taking photos of special events for the university, especially men's basketball and rugby games.
After graduation - Director of technology for HEPdata.
Saribel M. Morales-Rivera
Morales-Rivera, a double major in history and Spanish and a Fulbright semifinalist, is graduating in just three years. She won the Edward J. Flanigan Memorial Prize, which is awarded to the graduating undergraduate student who best represents the traditions of Mount St. Mary's in scholarship, conduct and leadership, as well as the Bishop Allen Memorial Prize, awarded to the student with the highest scholastic average throughout his or her undergraduate career. Additionally, she recently won first place in the category of world history for her paper titled “The Valley of the Fallen: A Case Study on the Effectiveness of the Governmental Construction of Collective Memory,” at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference of Phi Alpha Theta, the national honor society in history.
After graduation - Doctoral program in history at University of California, San Diego.
ROTC Commissioning
The Green Terror Battalion of the U.S. Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program will hold its commissioning ceremony for cadets of Mount St. Mary’s University on Friday, May 11 at the university’s Emmitsburg campus. U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command and Fort Detrick Commanding General Barbara R. Holcomb is the event’s guest speaker. Mount St. Mary’s President Timothy E. Trainor, Ph.D., will offer remarks as well. Trainor is a retired U.S. Army brigadier general and most recently served as dean and chief academic officer at the U.S. Military Academy before retiring after a 33-year military career.
Six cadets from the Mount’s Class of 2018 will be commissioned. They include Samuel Afriyie, Connor A. Gallagher, James O. Larkin, Austin P. McGinity, Brian S. Parrish and Joseph M. Remaniak. The cadets will commission as second lieutenant officers and serve on active duty, in the Army Reserve or with the National Guard. While in the Army Reserve, Larkin will pursue a postgraduate degree in chemistry from Rice University. Gallagher is a Distinguished Military Graduate and will attend the Engineer Basic Officer Leader Course.