Shenandoah University

Three Shenandoah University women's lacrosse student-athletes earned second team All-Region honors by the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association on May 16. Attacker Ainsley Buckner and defenders Julianna Fohner and Talia Maria represent the Hornets on the all-region team for the Chesapeake Region.

On April 27, Shenandoah University announced the 2025 winners of the Student Leadership Awards during a ceremony in the Brandt Student Center, Ferrari Room. This year, there were 53 total nominees and 12 awards.

On April 24, the Student Government Association held its inauguration ceremony for the 2025-26 Executive Council in the Pruitt Health & Life Sciences Building, Halpin Rotunda. The Executive Council consists of undergraduate and graduate students dedicated to leading other members of the SGA and serving as liaisons with faculty. Although most positions are chosen through an application process, Shenandoah University students elect the president and vice presidents each spring. The 2025-26 Executive Council is as follows: President: Carter Sand Vice President of Undergraduate Affairs: Masha Balakersky Vice President of Graduate Affairs: Carlie Cross Director of Communications: Amy Oleksy Director of IDE: Jessica Velasquez Director of Finance: Emma Thompson Speaker of the House: Elisabeth Myers Chief of Staff: Jaxson Hall

Samuel Soste-Taffur '25 (Bachelor of Music Therapy) has been awarded the 2025 Ben-Dov Family, Luminescence Foundation Scholarship for music therapy. This $12,000 scholarship was created in partnership with A Place to Be, a private, nonprofit music therapy practice with offices in Middleburg, Virginia, and Leesburg, Virginia, to support music therapy students during their internship. Soste-Taffu will begin his internship at A Place to Be this summer.

Shenandoah University's football program had 13 student-athletes named to the 2025 National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society in selections announced by the NFF on April 21. Shenandoah is one of only 44 NCAA Division III institutions - and one of 97 schools across all divisions nationwide - to have 10 or more student-athletes recognized in this year's prestigious group. In all, a record 2,514 college football players were named to the 2025 NFF Hampshire Honor Society. Shenandoah's honorees are Ethan Brown, Dominic Gulli, Braden Holt, Steven Hugney, Corey Kidwell, Nate Lednum, David Munoz, DeMarcus Perry, Quante Redd, Nolan Riley, Michael Sheil, Deklin Smith, and Isaac Tucker.

From March 20-22, three of Shenandoah University's sport management students attended the NCAA Division I Men's Wrestling National Championships held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Brian Wigley, Ed.D., chair of the Division of Sport Management & Esports, accompanied them on the experiential learning trip. Students Cody Carbaugh '25, Tyler Garr '26 and Sam Tighe '28 volunteered at the championship by helping fans enter the arena safely, directing them to their seats, and answering questions about the event's timeline.

Shenandoah Conservatory announces the winners of the 2025/26 Student Soloists Competition (SSC) on behalf of the SSC committee. Competition Winners Christopher Gilley, cello (Category I) Timur Mustakimov, piano (Category II) Cadence Weaver, voice (Category II) The final round of the competition was held at 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 2, in Armstrong Concert Hall (view the digital program to learn more about the final round). Winners of this year's competition will be featured in performances with the Shenandoah Conservatory Symphony Orchestra throughout the 2025/26 season.

In January, 60 students in Shenandoah University's physician assistant studies program, accompanied by Associate Professor of Physician Assistant Studies Jennifer Miller, D.M.S., and Interim Director of the Division of Physician Assistant Studies Erika Francis, D.M.S., traveled to Richmond, Virginia, to participate in Lobby Day during the Virginia General Assembly's legislative session. During Lobby Day, an annual event organized by the Medical Society of Virginia and the Virginia Academy of Physician Assistants, students engaged in briefings about key issues, gained insight into the Virginia legislative process, and had the opportunity to speak directly with legislators in the Virginia State Capitol. The day concluded with a special meeting with Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears, providing students with invaluable first-hand experience in advocacy and policy making. This impactful experience highlighted the critical role of legislative engagement in shaping the future of the PA profession.

Shenandoah University third-year Pharm.D. student Sheridan Herron '26 won the American Pharmacists Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) National Patient Counseling Competition during the APhA Annual Meeting that took place March 21-24, in Nashville, Tennessee. Herron, who was recognized during the APhA-ASP Student Awards Celebration on March 22, is the third Shenandoah University student in the Bernard J. Dunn School of Pharmacy to win the APhA-ASP National Patient Counseling Competition, joining Joanna Lyon (2014) and Danielle Przychodzin (2003). Shenandoah, which admitted its first class of doctoral pharmacy students in 1996, began participating in the National Patient Counseling Competition in 2000. Shenandoah University's three national winners are the most of any pharmacy school over the last 25 years, and Shenandoah is tied with the University of California, San Francisco for the most in the history of the National Patient Counseling Competition, which debuted in 1985.

Shenandoah University held its First-Year Seminar Awards ceremony on Dec. 5 to celebrate the outstanding accomplishments of FYS faculty, mentors and students. Each year, winners are announced for the Gabriella Miller First-Year Student Award, the Timothy Doak Mentor Leadership Award, and the Teaching Excellence Award.

Three Shenandoah University athletic training students secured SU's third straight Virginia Athletic Trainers' Association (VATA) Student Quiz Bowl title during the organization's annual meeting on Jan. 3 at the Hampton Roads Convention Center in Hampton, Virginia. This year's Shenandoah team included Megan Bone '29, Luke Finkbeiner '29, and Trilby Kite '30 as well as alternates Cori Babcock '29 and Aesia Garban '30. The VATA Student Quiz Bowl is a "Jeopardy"-style competition held during the annual conference that features college athletic training programs from across Virginia.

Shenandoah University recognizes the 1,132 students who made the Fall 2024 Dean's List. To qualify for the Dean's List, students must be enrolled full-time in baccalaureate degree programs and earn a semester GPA of 3.50 or higher. Dean's List students who achieve a semester GPA of 3.90 or higher also qualify for the university's President's List.

Shenandoah University celebrates the 540 students who made the President's List for the Fall 2024 semester. To qualify for this prestigious academic recognition, students must be enrolled full-time in baccalaureate degree programs and attain a semester GPA of 3.90 or higher. All President's List honorees are also recognized on the university's Dean's List, which includes students who earn a semester GPA of 3.50 or higher.

Eva Gary '25 (Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre) will join "Pretty Woman: The Musical," for the last leg of its U.S. national tour in 2025. Gary will play the lead role of Vivian Ward in the production based on the 1990 film of the same name.

Shenandoah University's softball program had 17 players earn Easton/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-America Scholar-Athlete honors for the 2023-24 academic year, in selections announced by the NFCA on Aug. 6. As a program, the Hornets posted the best team GPA among the four Old Dominion Athletic Conference schools represented on the list of 118 NCAA Division III programs that achieved a collective GPA of 3.0 or better. SU student-athletes Kristen Blee, Rachael Blumenschine, Makayla Boone, Tiffany Bower, Abigail Campbell, Makayla Cox, Paige Eagleton, Kelsey Freeman, Kelly Hartman, Danielle McNeill, Sarah Medellin, Riley Nace, Lexie Reid, Taylor Smith, Kayla Stephenson, Kara Watkins, and Brenna Westwood each were named Easton/NFCA All-Academic Scholar-Athletes. To qualify for this distinction, student-athletes must have maintained at least a 3.50 or better cumulative GPA for the 2023-24 academic year. As a team, the Hornets tied for the 60th-best GPA (3.55) in Division III, edging out Virginia Wesleyan and Bridgewater (T-72, 3.51) and the University of Lynchburg (T-78, 3.50).

Shenandoah University is pleased to announce the 1,247 graduates who received their degrees and/or certificates during the 2023-24 academic year. These included 206 August 2023 graduates, 353 December 2023 graduates and 688 May 2024 graduates. Shenandoah's 2024 University Commencement took place on May 18.

Shenandoah University's Esports program recently announced the recipients of the 2024 Shenandoah Esports Awards. A total of seven individuals received one of six awards during a ceremony on May 7.

Over 131 undergraduate and graduate students presented a display of 73 projects at the 2024 Shenandoah University Research Expo. Nearly all schools at SU were represented in the expo, which featured an array of creative/portfolio, empirical and proposal/review projects across a variety of disciplines. Thirty-six faculty mentors supported these projects with an eye toward fostering scientific and creative inquiry among their students. Individual and group winners were announced in 11 categories in 2024.

Several Shenandoah students have served as vaccinators at the university's mass-vaccination clinic held in the Wilkins Athletics & Events Center. They have helped vaccinate thousands of individuals in the community and the state. From the pharmacy school, they are Elizabeth Beremendi, James Noll, Phillip "Austin" Taylor, Ashley Myers and Ashley Boothe.

Shenandoah University's Department of Intercollegiate Athletics announced that 349 student-athletes earned a spot on the Athletic Director's List for the Spring 2023 semester. To qualify for this honor, student-athletes must have a semester GPA of 3.0 or higher.