Cedar Crest College

On Saturday, June 1, 2019, Exercise Science research students Ashley Heffelfinger, Alyssa Feher, and Emily DeDonna, working with Dr. Dianne Babbitt, presented their research, "Validation of a Cycle Ergometer Protocol in the Prediction of VO2 in a poster format" at the American College of Sports Medicine National Meeting in Orlando, FL. The initial research subjects consisted of 12 Cedar Crest College female students. Data collection continued over the course of the academic year to include 40 female and male subjects representing a variety of ages. The research abstract was published in the premiere exercise science professional journal, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. Other Exercise Science research students who contributed to the overall project included Alissa Rusbarsky and Cassidy Barrett.

Two graduate forensic science students, Kathleen Maguire and Sarah Lighthart, and two faculty, Larry Quarino and Janine Kishbaugh, were authors on a recent manuscript accepted for publication in Forensic Science International. The paper titled "Detection of Prostate Specific Antigen and Salivary Amylase in Vaginal Swabs Using SERATECA Immunochromatographic Assays" was a joint project between Cedar Crest and Keystone College.

Nine second-year graduate students from the Master of Science in Forensic Science Program collectively placed first nationally on the Forensic Science Assessment Examination (FSAT). One student, Haley Melbourn, received the highest individual score in the country. The FSAT is given by the American Board of Criminalistics which is the primary certifying body for forensic scientists and the exam is offered as a means of program assessment for academic forensic science programs.

Cedar Crest College celebrated the Class of 2019 at its 149th annual Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, May 11. The ceremony was held at the PPL Center in downtown Allentown.

The Dean's List recognizes students who have earned a grade point average of 3.65 or higher in the academic semester.

Delphi is the college's honor society for undergraduate students. Students who have a cumulative grade point average of 3.8 at the end of their junior year or their senior year are recognized as members.

Cedar Crest College celebrated the accomplishments of dozens of students during its 2018-2019 Awards Ceremony. The Cedar Crest College Awards Ceremony is held each year on the day before Commencement.

This year's graduates of the Didactic Program in Dietetics within the Department of Nutrition achieved a 100% acceptance rate into dietetic internship programs. The graduates include Jennifer Beam, Angelica Bonisese, Erin Clarke, Calliope Hersey, Susana Ortiz, and Sean Reed. Dietetic internships are highly competitive, with the national average acceptance rate remaining around 50% for the past five years.

Hannah Alarcon, Kendal Nichols, and Sulakshmi Vaid have been selected to participate in the NEW Leadership Pennsylvania Summer Institute in June at Chatham University. NEW Leadership Pennsylvania is a residential program that provides college women with the knowledge and skills to become effective leaders in politics, public policy, and public service. This six-day program will introduce college students to women leaders who will share their insights on developing their leadership potential. To participate, the students were required to complete a campus application as well as a program application process.

Six Psychology students presented at the recent LVAIC Undergraduate Psychology Conference on April 27th held at Muhlenberg College. All six students made oral presentations of their year-long research projects: Jacey Ludlam, Kyle English, Shalen Roman, MaeAnn Brougher, Lillie Fidelman, and Christine Widera. Their research was advised by Cedar Crest faculty Dr. Kerrie Baker and Dr. Sharon Himmanen.

Cedar Crest first-year students Brianna Marerro and Victoria Attinger presented a poster, co-authored by Jennifer Dobrowski, describing their research project conducted in collaboration with Dr. Audrey Ettinger, at the Annual Research Symposium hosted by the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience. This was the tenth year for the LVSfN symposium, and Dr. Ettinger has served on the LVSfN board since its inception.

Four seniors in the Honors Program had their abstracts selected for presentation at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research (NCUR). They attended the Atlanta conference (April 11-13, 2019) at Kennesaw State University, and each presented their capstone thesis in an oral presentation that generated questions and discussions afterward. Fernanda Culichia (faculty mentor: Allison Cornell): "Clearing Up the Confusion: Best Practices for Science Communication." Brianna Hill (faculty mentor: Andre Walther): "A Recipe for You: Using Children's Books as an Early Education Science Literacy Intervention." Haley Krueger (faculty mentor: Audrey Ettinger): "Mental Illness in Historic Fiction: Perception of Mentally Ill Protagonists and Societal Response." Julianna Marotta (faculty mentor: K. Joy Karnas): "Communicating Science to the Public: Empowering the Community to Help Delay the Post-Antibiotic Era." In addition, Julianna Marotta presented a research poster ("FabI Gene Duplications and Overexpression in Enterobacter cloacae Leads to Increased Triclosan Resistance") outlining some of the current results derived from her research in the Karnas Lab. NCUR is overseen by the Council on Undergraduate Research whose mission is "to support and promote high-quality undergraduate student-faculty collaborative research and scholarship." The process for presentation selection is competitive with 80-90% of the abstracts being selected for presentation each year.

Students campuswide from various departments presented posters and original research to the campus community on Tuesday, April 30, 2019.

Two Undergraduate, Art Therapy students had their research posters accepted to the 50th American Art Therapy Association Conference in Kansas City, Missouri. The students were invited to present their scholarly and creative work in the study of art therapy at the conference that will be held October 30 - November 3, 2019. Charlene Natterman's poster entitled Memory is Not Choice explores how art therapy enhances memory in older adults and Chris Zweifel's poster explores how Art Therapy Promotes Well-Being in Older Adults. Denise Wolf, Assistant Director of Art Therapy, will also be in attendance at the conference as co-presenter for both students.

On Friday, April 26th, 2019, Dr. Elizabeth M. Meade was installed as the 14th President of Cedar Crest College. During the ceremony, The Voices of Inclusion Choral Ensemble performed, Jules Massenet provided a musical interlude, Morgan Maddock and Tori Lawton provided welcome speeches, and Salika Sadek, Rebecca Dolan, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Charles Gounod provided musical processions.

On Saturday, April 13, six students in the Biology Department presented at the Lehigh Valley Ecology and Evolution Symposium. Taylor Robbins, Jaime Matson, and Miranda Fetchen gave oral presentations, and Ashley Judd, Magdalena Dammer, and Amelia Porter-Bacon gave poster presentations. Their research was advised by Cedar Crest faculty Dr. John Cigliano and Dr. Allison Cornell, as well as external collaborators Dr. Miriam Cooperband (USDA) and Dr. JF Therrien (Hawk Mountain Sanctuary). Special congratulations to Miranda Fetchen, who won 2nd place for the best student presentation at the meeting for her talk on "Dietary Habits of the Spotted Lanternfly"!

On Monday, April 1st, K. Joy Karnas, Kassaundra Blodgett ('19), and Miranda Fetchen ('20) represented Cedar Crest College at the 2019 Da Vinci Science Center's Women in Science and Engineering Forum, designed to engage high school women in conversations about careers in science. The evening included a mentoring dinner where the high school students had the opportunity to network with college students and science professions to gain insight into their career paths and receive advice about how to persist in the science fields. Cedar Crest College was a table sponsor for the event, and Dr. Karnas is a member of Da Vinci's WISE Executive Advisory Council that oversees this and other Da Vinci WISE Initiative events.

Mallorie McIlwain and Yessi Paula presented their choreography at the 24th annual Women and Gender Studies Conference at Cedar Crest College on Saturday, April 13. "Fallen" by Mallorie McIlwain and "Girls in the Hood" by Yessi Paula both depicted powerful women who are swept up in precarious circumstances. Both works originally premiered at Student DanceWorks at Samuels Theater in November 2018.

Cedar Crest College has welcomed dozens of new members into the Alpha Sigma Lambda honor society. An induction ceremony was held on Thursday, April 11 in the Tompkins College Center on campus. Alpha Sigma Lambda is a national honor society for adult students. The goal of the organization is to recognize the achievements of adults who accomplish academic excellence while facing competing interests of home and work. To be eligible, students must meet certain academic requirements. This semester, 24 Cedar Crest College students were eligible for induction into Delta Pi, the local chapter of Alpha Sigma Lambda. Twelve attended the ceremony. Alpha Sigma Lambda is the only chapter-based honor society for non-traditional students. The group aims to motivate students to achieve academic and leadership excellence while creating a network of outstanding students and faculty.

Conference Services Assistants report to the Director of Conference Services and live on campus for the summer. They provide quality and efficient customer service to guests who may be on campus for a day or several weeks. Their responsibilities include ensuring the safety and security of all guests, facilitating guest check-ins and check-outs, assisting with move-outs and damage assessments, communicating and enforcing conference policies, working at campus events, and acting as a liaison between guests and Conference Services.

We are the step team on campus we have weekly practice. We put on a performance for the school and go on trips to show off others step abilities. Presidents - Kayla Smith, Jihnai Johnson, VP - Yessenia Paula, Secretary - Ti'Asha Johnson, Treasurer - Tahirrah Steele

Terpsichore Dance Society is a dance appreciation club who enjoys watching, supporting, and participating in dance events. We welcome all students from years of technical training to no dance background at all! We participate with all dance and theater performances on campus, as well as run trips to see performances and run community service events. We also host a school dance every semester. President - Ellen Sherman, VP - Mallorie McIlwain, Secretary - Victoria Levan, Treasurer - Taryn Thomason

To educate, host events, and spark interest in local and global environmental and sustainability issues. President - Robin Coker, VP - Amelia Porter Bacon, Secretary - Miranda Fetchen, Treasurer - Kelsey Kehm

Student Nurse Association. President - Emily Robbins, VP - Emily Clowes, Secretary - AnitaMarie Laubach, Treasurer - Susan Schroeder

To help govern the student body, clubs and organizations on campus. We aim to reach the needs of all constituents in a collaborative manner. We support them financially with their club events and physically as we address student's request for change on campus. President - Morgan Maddock, VP - Kayla Smith, Treasurer - Shannon Wolak

Open to all students of Cedar Crest who are interesting in participating in volunteer opportunities and nutrition-related activities. President - Susana Ortiz, VP - Erin Clarke, Secretary - Amy Beltz, Treasurer - Angelica Bonisese

To promote social engagement at Cedar Crest College. President - Kassandra Miller, VP - Abby Billig, Secretary - Kelsey Kehm, Treasurer - Nyla Ngeba

To help students learn networking skills, how to build their resume, learn about internships/job opportunities, and team building. President - Meredith Vandegrift, VP - Ashley Ross, Secretary - Fesal Aldoghetr, Treasurer - Kelly Fenstermaker

Social Work Club is open to any student who is interested in current coal issues and policy. As a club, we aim to meet the needs of the growing number of students entering the many areas related to Sociology and the Social Sciences. President - Sarafina Woolridge-Burns, VP - Brenna Ritter, Secretary - Rosie Young, Treasurer - Jenny Garcia

Support international students by creating activities, an engagement plan to help participate and guide students and help them in and out of campus. President - Tariq Alabsi, VP - Mohammed Alzahrani, Secretary - Raed Alzunaydi. Treasurer - Abdulelah Bagais