NDMU Graduates Celebrated at 2024 Alumni Awards Dinner

Alumni Weekend Photo Gallery

BALTIMORE – Several outstanding Notre Dame of Maryland University graduates were honored at the 2024 Alumni Awards Dinner in September as part of the University’s Alumni Weekend.

Sheri Booker ’04, Mary Kay Shartle Galotto ’64, Frances ‘Kay’ Pitts ’96, and Jolisse Gray ’23 were this year’s alumni award winners. The ceremony began with the induction of Megan Morales ’19 and Samantha (Kastner) Whiting ’19 into NDMU’s Athletics Hall of Fame.

Additional information on this year’s alumni award winners is available below. A full gallery of photos from Alumni Weekend 2024 is available on NDMU's Flickr page.


The Elizabeth P. Hoisington '40 Distinguished Alumna Award: Sheri Booker ’04

Sheri J. Booker is an award-winning author, educator and poet. The author of “Nine Years Under: Coming of Age in an Inner-City Funeral Home,” Booker won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work by a Debut Author. She’s been featured in the New York Times, Essence Magazine, Washington Post, Baltimore Magazine, NPR and TVOne. In 2014, she graced the cover of the Baltimore Sun’s “50 Women to Watch” issue.

Booker was a junior at Notre Dame when she self-published her first book, “One Woman, One Hustle.” By age 25, she landed a major publishing deal with Avery Books.

Booker has lived and worked in South Africa, where she helped teach journalism to women in the Northern Province and created an international literary magazine. She also served as a cultural ambassador for the U.S. Embassy and traveled to India to perform and teach poetry.

Booker’s passion has always been to empower young women and help them find their voices. A former middle school teacher at the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women, she has developed curriculum and programming for schools and organizations all over the East Coast. Each summer, she hosts the SWAGG (Success and Wisdom Awaiting Good Girls) Academy summer program for young girls in Baltimore City.

A full-time lecturer in the School of Global Journalism and Communication at Morgan State, Booker recently embarked on a new passion: writing children’s books. She created the “Imagine” series that encourages children in urban settings to dream big.

The Elizabeth P. Hoisington ’40 Distinguished Alumna Award is presented to a graduate who, through achievements in career and/or community service, embodies the principles of Notre Dame. Winners, who have graduated no fewer than five years ago, have demonstrated loyalty to the University and achievements in career and or community.


Alumnae and Alumni Engagement Award: Mary Kay Shartle Galotto ’64

Born and raised in Harrisburg, Pa., Mary Kay Shartle Galotto was introduced to Notre Dame as a senior at Bishop McDevitt by her Latin teacher, Sr. Mary Winifred, SSND. She attended Notre Dame on a scholarship. The school became an important and lifelong influence. Her niece Rosemary Shartle O’Brien, graduated from Notre Dame and has a daughter, Rosemary, who is a current junior at the University.

Notre Dame instilled in Shartle Galotto and her classmates a lifelong love of learning, and a firm belief in the power and possibilities of women. Her husband, Jack, and she raised two children, Jay and Julia. They have four grandchildren, one of whom just started his freshman year at Johns Hopkins.

Shartle Galotto’s own career in education has spanned the last 50 years. She began as a high school English teacher. After earning master’s degrees in humanities and special education, she moved on to Montgomery College, starting a program for students with learning disabilities. She completed her doctorate program in education and entered administration — first as dean of humanities and then as provost of the Rockville campus, retiring in 2009 as vice president for academic and student services. Recruited to serve as director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Program at Johns Hopkins, Shartle Galotto retired for the second time in 2019.

Shartle Galotto remains connected to Notre Dame in several capacities. She has served on the Go Beyond Campaign Committee, the Board of Trustees and most recently the Reunion Committee celebrating her 60th reunion year.

The Alumnae and Alumni Community established the Alumnae and Alumni Engagement Award in 2017. The award is presented to a graduate celebrating a milestone Reunion year who has achieved long-standing and consistent support for Notre Dame of Maryland University. Support is measured through the sharing of time, talent, and/or resources.


Service to Society Award: Frances ‘Kay’ Pitts ’96

Frances Kay Pitts has dedicated her career to excellence in healthcare for women and children as an advocate, registered nurse and certified nurse midwife. She received an associate degree in nursing from Essex Community College and a bachelor’s degree from Notre Dame, where she learned the value of being a fearless leader.

Pitts lobbied for nurses’ rights at Greater Baltimore Medical Center, where she worked for 27 years in maternal child health. After earning a master’s degree in nursing and certificate of nurse midwifery from Georgetown, she joined St. Paul Place Specialists at Mercy Medical Center as a certified registered nurse midwife in 1999.

The mother of a son, Michael, with special needs, Pitts previously advocated for and helped to enforce PL 94-142, also known as the Education for all Handicapped Children Act, with the Carroll County Board of Education. At age 3, Michael was the first child in the county to attend public school and ride a school bus in a car seat. Pitts was a founding member of Target Community and Educational Services, which provides group homes for clients with special needs.

Also, a founding member of Carroll Hospital Center, Pitts educated emergency room and critical care staff about clients with special needs and developed funding resources for nurses. She was an active member of the hospital auxiliary, worked as a nurse and served on the Infant Mortality Health Department Committee. The Frances Kay Pitts Center for Nursing Leadership opened in 2023.

The Pitts Family Foundation established the Frances Kay Pitts ‘96 Endowed Chair for Nursing Leadership in Women and Children’s Health at NDMU. As co-chairs of the NDMU Go Beyond Campaign, Pitts and her husband, Jim, helped to raise $50 million for the University. The Gathering Place on the first floor of the Knott Science and Innovation Center is named in honor of their foundation.

Pitts was unable to attend this year’s award ceremony. Her nieces – Bonnie Phillips and Haylee Conn ’26 – accepted the Service to Society Award on her behalf.

The Service to Society Award is presented to a graduate who best exemplifies the ideals of a Notre Dame education through the application of their education, initiative and humanity to socially useful ends in the community, nation or world. The Alumnae and Alumni Association established the Service to Society Award in 1999. All graduates are eligible. 


Regina Russo Hammel '41 Outstanding Recent Graduate Award: Jolisse Gray ’23

After graduating from Notre Dame with a bachelor’s degree in international relations in December 2022, Jolisse Gray immediately entered the workforce as a defense contractor for the U.S. Navy supporting security cooperation programs.

Gray was recognized as a leader and innovator in arms transfers, and she recently accepted a new role as a Senior Foreign Military Sales Analyst. She has been praised by her clients and partner nations across the world for her commitment to advancing national security and foreign policy interests.

Gray recently started her first year working towards a master’s degree in the prestigious Security Studies Program at Georgetown University, the top school in the world for security studies.

During her free time, Gray dedicates time to her parish, Epiphany of our Lord Byzantine Catholic Church in Annandale, Va., and she volunteers throughout the Northern Virginia community. Gray is the daughter of John and Lissette Gray of Byram Township, N.J., and she firmly believes her accolades cannot be praised without recognizing the hard work, dedication and sacrifices that were made by her parents.

The Regina Russo Hammel ’41 Recent Graduate Award honors a recent graduate, not more than 10 years ago, who has exhibited professional achievement and/or contributions to community life and who had demonstrated loyalty to the University. The Regina Hammel ’41 Outstanding Recent Graduate Award was created by Gary and Laura Hammel Dicovitsky in honor of Mrs. Dicovitsky’s mother in 1999.


Athletics Hall of Fame: Megan Morales ’19

A two-sport athlete in field hockey and lacrosse, Megan Morales graduated from Notre Dame with a bachelor’s degree in marketing communications and a minor in digital media art. She works at her high school alma mater, The Catholic High School of Baltimore, as the coordinator of marketing and communications. In 2022, she earned the school’s peer-nominated Mission Award, which is given to an employee for exceptionally living out the Franciscan mission and values of the institution.

One of the most decorated student-athletes in NDMU history, Morales set several school records in lacrosse. She graduated in 2019 as the all-time leader in goals (289), points (315) and draw controls (353) while establishing single-season marks in all three categories as the Colonial States Athletic Conference Player of the Year. Morales made a similar impact in field hockey, ranking sixth all-time with 26 goals and 62 points. Between both sports, she earned CSAC all-conference honors in every season she competed, including five first-team nods.

Morales’ success on the field has continued in her coaching career. In 2022, she led Catholic to its first IAAM-C championship since 2013. The following spring, she guided the lacrosse team to the championship game. The Cubs finished as field hockey runners-up in 2023.

Previously inducted into the Catholic High School of Baltimore Athletic Hall of Fame in 2020, Morales is proud to conclude her athletic career by being enshrined into NDMU’s Athletics Hall of Fame.


Athletics Hall of Fame: Samantha (Kastner) Whiting ’19

Samantha (Kastner) Whiting earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Notre Dame, where she excelled as a two-sport athlete. Her primary sport was softball. An outstanding catcher, she became the first player in school history to surpass 100 career hits, finishing with 110 after a senior year that saw her earn second-team All-Colonial States Athletic Conference recognition. She hit .434 with 31 RBI and smashed 13 doubles that season.

At Notre Dame, Whiting holds school records for career hits (110), doubles (27) and at-bats (331). She also ranks third in career batting average (.332) and runs (72).

In addition to her playing career, Whiting served on the NCAA Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and the NCAA Division III Management Council. In 2019, she was elected to serve on the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics (CWA) and the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports (CSMAS).

After finishing her undergraduate degree, Whiting joined the NDMU Athletics Department in 2019, where she was named the athletics operations coordinator and assistant softball coach. Elevated to head coach in 2023, she led the Gators to their most wins in a single season, recruited the program’s largest class ever, and developed five all-conference selections. Notre Dame was even more successful in 2024, shattering the school record for most wins in a single season (20). Whiting guided the team to its first-ever United East tournament appearance and playoff victory last spring.

Established in 1895, Notre Dame of Maryland University (NDMU) is a private, Catholic institution in Baltimore, Maryland, with the mission to educate leaders to transform the world. Notre Dame has been named one of the best "Regional Universities North" by U.S. News & World Report.