Hiram College

A group of Hiram College sport management students recently had the rare opportunity to step "inside the ropes" at the Ryder Cup, one of golf's most prestigious international tournaments. During the competition days, students were stationed at various holes throughout the course, where they learned and used hand signals to communicate with broadcast teams-indicating where golfers' shots had landed. Their observations helped update live television coverage and online platforms in real time. Students also supported greenside marshals by assisting with crowd control when shots veered into the gallery, providing them a front-row look at how major sporting events operate behind the scenes. "This experience can impact students' education at Hiram in many ways," said Dr. White, assistant professor of sport management. "The first-hand experiences these students have gained will provide numerous examples to draw on in nearly any course within the sport management curriculum. We intentionally structure discussions and reflections to connect these experiences to classroom learning. It not only helps students understand new material but also encourages them to think critically and creatively about how concepts are applied in real-world settings. Combining a COSMA-accredited degree with experiences like this positions our graduates for great success after Hiram." For students, the experience was as thrilling as it was educational. "There were so many exciting parts of the experience that it's hard to choose just one!" shared Aidan Griffin '26, one of the student volunteers. "Some of the highlights included getting autographs from Bryson DeChambeau, Collin Morikawa, and Justin Thomas, meeting YouTubers GoodGood Golf and Handshake Bets, and watching Team USA nearly stage an incredible comeback. It was an unforgettable experience filled with nonstop excitement from start to finish." Beyond the excitement, students walked away with invaluable professional growth. "Working at such a large international event taught me how to communicate effectively, adapt quickly, and stay organized under pressure," Griffin said. "It gave me insight into how large-scale sporting events are managed and strengthened my teamwork and leadership skills. Overall, volunteering at the Ryder Cup prepared me to handle responsibility and work confidently in any fast-paced environment."

Hiram sophomore, Rayna Lambert, was recently recognized by the Tribune Chronicle as a member of the 2025 "20 Under 20" class. Lambert, who is pursuing her undergraduate studies at Hiram College, was selected from a competitive pool of 65 nominees representing 10 area school districts. The winners were chosen based on a scoring system that weighed leadership (50%), academic achievement (25%), and extracurricular involvement (25%).

Sean Tejeda '27 has broken the Hiram Football record for single-season passing touchdowns with a total of 19 passes. The junior from San Antonio passed both Ron Devorsky (17 in 1987) and Randy Tucker (17 in 2017) with 4 passing touchdowns this past Saturday.

Started in 2009, Hiram College hosts a poster session in the fall semester to celebrate and showcase the scholarly work and experiential learning of its students and faculty members. The event has grown to welcome all forms of experiential learning and has added an evening faculty poster session and networking opportunity. This year's celebration, hosted by the Office of Scholarly Endeavors, marked the 17th year of the event.

The Hiram women's volleyball record book has featured the name "Brooke Fishback" more frequently in recent years, as the Aurora, OH native became the 10th player in program history to reach 1,000 assists last season before making more history this past week at the start of conference play.

Two students working at the James H. Barrow Biological Field Station traveled to Kemp Natural Resources Station in Wisconsin at the end of August for a workshop on Sphagnum mosses. Sarah Culliton '26 and Lily Katz '28 have been part of a research project at Hiram College's Northwoods Field Station studying pollinator networks in bogs, led by Dr. Mike Cunningham-Minnick, Dennis J. Taylor visiting professor of forest ecosystem studies, Dr. Jessie Lanterman-Novotny, undergraduate research advisor at the Field Station, and Zack Fox, sustainability coordinator and land stewardship manager. Bogs are unique habitats where the surface is covered entirely in Sphagnum moss (AKA peat moss), creating wet, low-oxygen, and low-nutrient conditions. The moss creates an environment that hosts rare and unique plants (we have five species of carnivorous plant and four orchids at the Northwoods Field Station!) and is also incredibly valuable for storing carbon from the atmosphere. But it's not just enough to say Sphagnum moss - we encountered several unique species as we walked across the bog, each of which can tell us about the varying environmental conditions in that habitat.

The following students have been accepted to Hiram College and will be joining the class of 2029 on campus this fall.

The following students graduated from Hiram College on May 17, 2025.

Jessie Laternman-Novotny, Ph.D., undergraduate research advisor for the James H. Barrow Biological Field Station and her summer research intern Nathan Tea '26 represented Hiram College at the Ecological Society of America's annual meeting in Baltimore, MD. Several thousand biologists from the U.S. and around the world were in attendance. Nathan presented a poster on his independent research about the diversity of moths in the Field Station's Frohring Forest, our old-growth beech-maple forest titled, "Moth Diversity Along a Successional Gradient from Field to Old Growth Forest"

The following Hiram College students were named to the Dean's List after the spring 2025 session for completing 12 or more hours of graded coursework with a semester grade point average of 3.6 or better.

The following students were named to the Executive Board of the Hiram College Student Senate for the 2025 - 2026 term. The Hiram College Student Senate is recognized by Hiram College students as the official body for protecting student rights and interests; facilitating student participation in College policy-making; increasing the quality of students' educational and academic experience; upholding the core values of the College in all areas of student life; facilitating communication between students and faculty, staff, and bureaucratic organizations; recognizing and funding student organizations; acting as the active link between the concerns of the Student Body and the administration; representing the student body in College Council meetings and all official college business; and striving to improve the welfare of all students.

Alpha Society is one of Hiram's highest academic honors. Membership is limited to students who have completed 12 or more hours of graded coursework at Hiram College and whose cumulative grade point average is 3.75 or better.

The Celebration of Excellence at Hiram College recognizes outstanding achievement of students and those inducted into honor societies. This celebration is held each year to honor the outstanding achievements of our students.

Phi Beta Kappa, the national honorary society for excellence in the liberal arts, was founded in 1776 at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. There is no higher honor in American academia than membership in Phi Beta Kappa. A Phi Beta Kappa Chapter is a singular honor for a college or university. Since the founding of Phi Beta Kappa, only 280 colleges and universities have earned the right to have chapters on their campuses.

The School of Health, Education, Sustainability, and Society recently held it's annual honors and award ceremony for students within the school. The School covers programs in criminal justice, sociology, education licensure, psychology, integrative exercise science, and biomedical humanities. The ceremony was joined by keynote speaker and alumna, Alina Mille, class of 2018. Mille majored in integrative exercise science while at Hiram College, and now owns her own physical therapy practice, Gait Keeper Physical Therapy in Twinsburg, OH. Each department chose to honor students graduating with program honors, award and scholarship recipients, or students with outstanding involvement in the major or program research. The psychology program also inducted students into Psi Chi, the international honor society in psychology. All honorees are listed below:

Annually, the Office of Campus Involvement (OCI) hosts the Student Life & Leadership Awards where clubs and organizations are recognized in various categories, including campus programming, student organization, and campus leadership.

An Eclectic Scholar is a student who has spent their time at Hiram College following a course of honors classes and has met high academic standards throughout the Hiram career. Criteria includes maintaining a GPA of 3.3 or above, completion of the honors program course requirements, and engagement in the campus community as demonstrated through active membership and taking on leadership roles in campus organizations.

Hiram College Athletics announced its eight award winners for the 2024-25 academic year on Monday evening, which includes the Charles A. Henry Award, the Helen M. Petroskey Award, the Donald Campbell Award, two NCAC Scholar Athlete Awards, the Pam Smith Award nominee, the Herbert C. Matthew Award, and the Dave Bishoff Award. Each of the below winners were awarded to commemorate their achievements following a 2024-25 season filled with memories and achievements that will last a lifetime.

The Hiram College Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa, or OK, celebrates leaders on campus, from students to faculty and beyond. Since it's founding, our circle has extended invitations for membership to those who truly exhibit leadership and achievement in: Scholarship Athletics Campus/Community Service, Social/Religious Activities, and Campus Government Journalism, Speech and the Mass Media Creative and Performing Arts

The Scarborough School of Business and Communication recently presented their 2024-2025 departmental awards across the majors of management, communication, accounting and financial management, sport management, marketing and the minor of entrepreneurship.

Hiram College recently inducted the 2025 class of J.J. Turner Society scholars. The J.J. Turner Society is named in honor of James Jesse Turner, professor of Biology, 1904-1950, who was a thorough biologist and a versatile teacher. Professor Turner helped establish the national reputation of Hiram College for excellence in the sciences. Membership in the J.J. Turner Society is granted to all graduates of Hiram College who majored or minored in biology or who have gone on to advanced study and/or careers in the biological sciences and medicine. Additionally, membership is granted to all senior biology, biochemistry, biomedical humanities, and neuroscience majors and minors.

Seven Hiram College students placed in the Echo Student Literary Competition for their work across the categories of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction.

Karalyn Rutkowski, a standout student known for excelling both academically and athletically, has been awarded a $3,000 Summer Environmental Studies Award by the Garden Club of America. The prestigious grant will support her independent research this summer in the Cunningham-Minnick Lab at the James H. Barrow Biological Field Station.

The ePoster and Pitch is an assignment designed to get students engaged with public presentation skills for their first Sugar Day, to help them clarify the aims and importance of their Signature Assignment project, and to generate a sense of shared academic purpose in the Urgent Questions Seminars. 1-2 presenters from each Urgent Questions Seminar (who were nominated by their class) participated in the public ePoster and Pitch Competition. The top three presenters were recognized and awarded a cash prize. Winners were decided based on the combined scores of our panel of judges and votes from the audience.

Hiram's Darian Kanno '25 already holds Hiram's all-time strikeout record, recording 132 more strikeouts than any other pitcher in the history of the program through the end of play on Friday. The senior is on the brink of standing alone in another prestigious category following her latest start, which improved her 2025 record to 10-0. Following a 3-2 victory in Game 1 against the Oberlin Yeomen, Kanno officially tied Whitney Dropsey with her 44th career win in a 1-0 win in Game 2. The senior also tied her own career-high with 12 strikeouts in that victorious effort, lifting the Terriers to a 4-0 record in NCAC play in a span of 48 hours.

As of April 1, the NCAC has announced stat leaders across men's lacrosse, softball, and baseball. Among the rankings were three successful Hiram student-athletes.

Hiram College is proud to announce the winners of the prestigious Vachel Lindsay Poetry Contest, as judged by Chandra Feldman, professor of creative writing at Oberlin College and Conservatory. The annual contest recognizes exceptional poetry by emerging writers, and this year's winners have demonstrated remarkable creativity and storytelling prowess.

Hiram College is proud to announce the winners of the prestigious Barbara Thompson Award in Short Fiction, as judged by Alysandra Dutton, Class of 2015. The annual contest recognizes exceptional short fiction by emerging writers, and this year's winners have demonstrated remarkable creativity and storytelling prowess.

Hiram's Gavin Dunn made a leap toward history on Friday afternoon at the NCAA Indoor Championships, placing fourth in the long jump to become the first All-American in program history since 1996. Dunn, who was the highest-placing freshman in the entire field, jumped a lifetime best mark of 7.38m (24' 2.50") to earn First-Team All-America honors at the Golisano Training Center on the campus of Nazareth University. He joined Les Niehaus (1976), William Edwards (1978, 1979) and Bob Kujala (1996) as the only athletes in program history to earn the highest honor in the sport. Dunn entered the day having already broken his own program record multiple times this season; his most recent record was 7.25m (23' 9.50") at the ONU Final Qualifier last Saturday, which was tied for the 10th-best mark in Division III entering the weekend. His new record of 7.38m (24' 2.50") came on his first jump of the day, setting the tone for what shaped out to be a memorable moment for both the individual and entire Terriers program. The Apopka, FL native trailed only Wisconsin-Oshkosh's Joshua Rivers (7.81m), Emory's Henry Brandstadter (7.51m) and McMurry's Dontre Sinegal (7.59m) in the event. Each of those three athletes were upperclassmen and had not beaten Dunn's mark until their fifth or sixth attempts. It caps off a special week for Dunn, who had just been named to the All-Great Lakes Region Indoor Track & Field team, as announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Thursday. That honor is awarded to those who ranked in the top-five in an individual event for an entire region; Dunn was tied for second in the Great Lakes Region with that mark of 7.25m from last Saturday in Ada, OH. Dunn and the rest of the Terriers roster will now turn their attention to the outdoor season, which is set to begin on Friday, March 28 with the Bob Kahn Invitational in Oberlin, OH. After setting 15 different program records this past indoor season, the Hiram track & field program will look to add another chapter to the record books as the spring of 2025 approaches.

Hiram Athletics named Isabella Caceres '28 and DeAco Curry '25 its Terriers of the Week for the week of Feb. 24-Mar. 2, which saw a pair of historic performances - both on an individual and team level - for Hiram Athletics. The "Terriers of the Week" is a weekly series that runs throughout the year, this recognizes the student-athletes who perform at a very high level during the previous week of competition. Each athlete will be mentioned in the weekly article, along with holding a section at the bottom of the Hiram Terriers website under "Terrier Spotlight." Caceres had a well-rounded performance in the quarterfinals of the NCAC Tournament against Denison University on Tuesday, scoring her second-most points in a career game (18) and helping fuel Hiram's first ever win in the NCAC Tournament. The first-year from Cypress, CA finished the week averaging 14.5 PPG and also added two blocks and four steals on the defensive end; the NCAC named her to its All-Tournament Team at the conclusion of the weekend, which saw Hiram lose to the eventual champion in DePauw. Curry, who transferred to the program after competing at Division II Notre Dame College, broke a long-standing record in the 800-meter run at the NCAC Championships hosted by Oberlin College on Friday and Saturday. The previous record was held by Greg Cicero in 2000 with a time of 1:58.75, but Curry broke that mark with a clip of 1:58.38 in the finals of the event. Hiram Athletics will have a busy week ahead, as there will be a couple of teams competing before and during spring break, including men's volleyball, men's lacrosse, baseball, softball and STUNT.