By: Erik Pedersen, Content Strategy Director
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BALTIMORE – Notre Dame of Maryland University welcomed honors programs from across the state to campus last week, as the host site for the 2024 Maryland Collegiate Honors Council (MCHC) conference, which recognized three Notre Dame students for research excellence and leadership.
Ten students from NDMU’s Elizabeth Morrissy Honors Program were among those to present work at the two-day event, which continued in a virtual format on Saturday. Participants included students from honors programs at a total of 10 different Maryland institutions.
“Congratulations to all of the honors students who presented at the MCHC conference – some of whom are in their first year at Notre Dame,” said Dr. Evelyn Spratt, Director of the Elizabeth Morrissy Honors Program. “I’d also like to thank the Morrissy Executive Board, especially conference coordinators Anna Choudhary ’25 and Nwanneka Udolisa ’25, for their strong leadership organizing the event, and Dr. Rachel Burk, Morrissy Faculty Fellow, for her leadership and support.”
Choudhary and Udolisa were recognized at the dinner as 2024 Best Student Presentation winners. Choudhary’s presentation was titled “Naming the Unnamed Weapon: How Patriarchal Traditions Justified Femicide in Rwanda’s Genocidal Revolution,” while Udolisa presented on “Survival, Resistance, and Mistreatment: The Evolution of Monstrosity in N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season.”
Jensen Armstrong ’24, current student president of the Morrissy Honors Program, was also honored at Friday evening’s dinner and awards presentation as NDMU’s nominee for the MCHC’s Portz Award for Outstanding Maryland Honors Student. Nominees are determined based on their initiative and leadership in the honors program, the institution, and/or the community, their grade point average (overall and in honors courses), and their academic excellence as illustrated by a project submitted for honors credit.
A pair of NDMU faculty members gave keynote presentations during the event. Kendrick Kenney, director of international students, spoke with Community College of Baltimore County professor Adrianne Washington on Friday about “Centering Black & Brown Excellence in Honors Education.” Ryan Schaaf, associate professor of educational technology in the School of Education, then discussed “Gaming and Society: An Interdisciplinary Adventure into Next-Generation Skills” in a virtual presentation on Saturday.
The theme of this year’s conference was “Traditions & Revolutions.” Notre Dame previously hosted the MCHC’s annual conference in 2016 and 2007. A full list of NDMU student presenters at this year’s conference is available below:
2024 MCHC Conference: NDMU Student Presenters
Anna Choudhary ’25: Naming the Unnamed Weapon: How Patriarchal Traditions Justified Femicide in Rwanda’s Genocidal Revolution
Christina Dargakis ’26: Vivien T. Thomas: The Unsung Hero of Pediatric Cardiology
Laci Petruccy ’27: Artistry and Psychology: How Art Therapy Changed the Treatment of Mental Health in the Modern Era
Jillian Seay ’27 and Isabelle Montes ’27: Fashion as a Weapon
Erin Shaw ’24 (with Ryan Schaaf): Gaming and Society: Bridging Traditions with Revolutionary Skills in Education
Katelyn Stephenson ’25 and Nicole Self ’25: A Review on Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and Current Research
Nwanneka Udolisa ’25: Survival, Resistance, and Mistreatment: The Evolution of Monstrosity in N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season
Morgan Williamson ’27: Margaret Naumburg: Progressive Educator to Mother of Art Therapy
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.
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