Hiram College

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 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 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.

Hiram's Brooke Hickman was named an All-NCAC Second Team selection on Tuesday afternoon, marking the senior's first ever second team selection after back to back seasons as a third team selection. With three career all-conference awards, Hickman joins Cassie Bedard as the only student-athletes in program history to be an All-NCAC selection in at least three different seasons.

Hiram's Isabella Caceres added another accolade to her first collegiate season this past Saturday, as the North Coast Athletic Conference named the Cypress, CA native to the NCAC All-Tournament Team following a pair of strong outings against Denison in the quarterfinals and DePauw in the semifinals.

First-year, Alisah Ward '28, from Conway, AR, was recognized this week by the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) for setting a new program record for Hiram College indoor track and field on Friday, February 21, 2025 at the Mount Union Tune-Up. The NCAC Athlete of the Week round-up can be found here.

Hiram College is proud to recognize academic excellence by naming high achieving students to the Fall 2024 Dean's List. This prestigious honor recognizes students who have completed 12 or more hours of graded coursework with a semester grade point average of 3.6 or better.

The College Sports Communicators (CSC) recently released their Academic All-District Teams for football, men's soccer, women's soccer and women's volleyball, a presitigious honor for student-athletes who excel both on the field and in the classroom. To qualify, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore (academically and athletically) and hold a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.50. The student-athlete must also compete in at least 90 percent of the intuition's games or have started in at least 66 percent of the institution's games for that particular season.

Fifteen Hiram College sport management undergraduate students and two Hiram faculty members recently had the experience of a lifetime working in New Orleans at the 2025 Super Bowl Experience. The Hiram cohort was in New Orleans from February 5 to February 10 assisting with the Super Bowl Experience and Campus Fan Experience on gameday for Super Bowl LIX. The group's duties varied day-to-day, but some of their experiences included fan engagement, ticket verification, red carpet management, activities management, and wayfinding.

Hiram's Sam Volpe continued to rewrite the record books this past Saturday at the Wuske Invite in Alliance, breaking her own indoor program record in the shot put and placing fourth in a field that was led by a pair of Division II athletes at Slippery Rock University.

A historic night and dramatic finish made up Hiram's mid-week performance against Oberlin at Price Gymnasium, as Brooke Hickman became the 10th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points and the Terriers nearly won on a last-second 3-pointer in a 69-67 loss to the Yeowomen.

Hiram College hosted its annual Nursing Uniform Convocation to honor sophomore Bachelor of Science in nursing students as they begin their clinical rotations. The celebration acknowledges each student's commitment to serving others through their career in professional nursing. Students received their uniforms, a nursing pin, and shared their pledges of commitment to the practice.

Hiram College congratulates 25 students who earned their academic degrees on December 21, 2024. Hiram College celebrates the successes of these students on and off campus as they move into their next stage of life.

Hiram College recently announced the winners of the annual Lindsay-Crane Creative Nonfiction Contest, judged by Athena Dixon! Athena Dixon is the author of the essay collections The Incredible Shrinking Woman (Split/Lip Press 2020) and The Loneliness Files (Tin House 2023). Her poetry chapbook, No God in This Room, was the 2018 Winner of the Argus House Press Intersectional Midwest Chapbook Contest. Athena's craft work appears in Getting to the Truth: The Craft and Practice of Creative Nonfiction (Hippocampus Books 2022) and her poetry is included in the anthology The Breakbeat Poets Vol 2: Black Girl Magic (Haymarket Books 2018).

Since all Field Station summer student workers are required to do a research project, the Animal Care & Husbandry department produces a plethora of interesting research posters that are presented at both the College's Celebration of Experiential Learning in September and the Ohio Wildlife Rehabilitator's Association Conference in November. One research project that spanned departments and will continue to be an on-going project at the Field Station is the Snake Fungal Disease (SFD) research led by senior, Claire Partin.

Hiram does it again! For the third year in a row, Hiram College's integrative exercise science students have won the Midwest American College of Sports Medicine (MWACSM) Quiz Bowl competition. Hiram is the first school to ever accomplish this at the Midwest regional level of the competition. Once again, Hiram College will move on to the next round of competition at the National American College of Sports Medicine Conference in Atlanta, Georgia in May.

Lorna Metzger '25, a creative writing major, has always been passionate about getting involved in her community and connecting with other Hiram College students. One of the many reasons Metzger chose to attend Hiram back in 2021 was for study abroad opportunities that would be offered to her during Hiram's unique 3-week term. Thus, when the opportunity presented itself to travel to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, Metzger knew she had to go. This started her search for study abroad scholarships and grants. Metzger made it a goal to find outside scholarships for study abroad to front the cost of her academic trip. In her application process, Metzger and Matthew Notarian, Ph.D., assistant professor of classics and director of study abroad, decided on applying for the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship.

The Garfield Center for Public Leadership prepares students to assume the responsibilities of public leadership by developing expertise in matters of public policy, foreign and domestic, grounded in Hiram's traditional liberal arts education. The 2024 scholars will participate in crisis simulations, seminars, and international travel all while studying timely topics in politics and international affairs.

Hiram is one of a select number of colleges and universities to participate in the prestigious Choose Ohio First Scholarship program. Sponsored by the Ohio Department of Higher Education, the program's goal is to increase the number of Ohio students pursuing majors and careers in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine). Students accepted and enrolled into Choose Ohio First at Hiram receive benefits such as being entered into a STEM-centered community of fellow scholars, professional development opportunities, scholarship and research engagement, and scholarships for attendance.

Hands-on experiences are at the helm of a Hiram College education. This can come in many forms, one of them being students conducting and research projects and then being tasked with presenting their work. In early November, animal-care and husbandry student-workers from the James H. Barrow Biological Field Station joined Hiram's Curator of Animal Programs, Rebecca Moore, at the Ohio Wildlife Rehabilitation Association's conference in Columbus, Ohio.

Hiram College is pleased to announce the Spring 2024 Dean's List. Hiram College names students to the Spring 2024 Dean's List for their academic achievements. Dean's List recognition is awarded to students who, during each semester, complete 12 or more hours of graded coursework at Hiram College with a semester grade point average of 3.6.

Hiram College celebrated its 174th Commencement on Saturday, May 11, 2024. The ceremony welcomed a new class of Hiram alumni as friends, family, and loved ones gathered to celebrate their accomplishments. Commencement exercises included a student welcome from graduating senior Mackenzie Flaherty '24, a political science major with minors in crime, law, and justice and sociology, and president of Student Senate.

As Hiram College's earliest and most festive tradition, Sugar Day continues to demonstrate scholarship, showcasing students' work, research, presentations, and academia. On April 4, 2024, the College celebrated another eventful Sugar Day, welcoming over 150 student presenters representing campus, with 17 events including musical and theatre performances, oral presentations, poster sessions, and a conference social. Sugar Day is organized by the Office of Scholarly Endeavors, a primary supporter and celebrator of student research, scholarship, and creative inquiry across the College's many disciples and majors. The Office houses multiple, non-departmental, specific initiatives and programs that feature significant student research components or emphasis. It also aims to help faculty and staff integrate student research into their own on-going scholarship.

During Hiram's term break, four students and Laci Fiala, Ph.D., director of Hiram Eclectic Scholars Honors Program traveled to Purdue University Northwest in Hammond to attend and present at the Mid-East Honors Association Annual Conference. Over 140 students, faculty, and staff from honors programs across Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio gathered to celebrate the culture and benefits of honors. The Mid-East Honors Association is a regional organization affiliated with the National Collegiate Honors Council, both of which Hiram holds membership in.

The start of the spring semester also brought an onslaught of conferences and presentations for many students and faculty across campus. Hiram's emphasis on small class sizes and one-on-one connections with professors means students have more chances to be mentored in their research, often leading them to more public opportunities to flex their presentation and public speaking skills. One professor who places a large emphasis on student's abilities to present their research is Steven Romberger, Ph.D., director, Office of Scholarly Endeavors, associate professor of chemistry, biochemistry coordinator. Dr. Romberger spent several weeks of the past spring semester traveling across Ohio with students Meaghan Stafford '24 and Tayleigh Price '24 to present research and represent Hiram College at several conferences.

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.

Hiram College's School of Health, Education, Sustainability, and Society hosted its first annual Award Ceremony to recognize outstanding students across the School for their achievements this academic year. The ceremony was opened by guest speaker, Pierra Heard '18, assistant director of enrollment management and strategic initiatives at Case Western Reserve University. Department awards were given in biomedical humanities, sociology, integrative exercise science, criminal justice, and education. The Harry L. Haskins '51 Endowed Scholarship was awarded to two education students. Finally, the psychology department inducted the 2024 class of Psi Chi scholars during the event.

Two Hiram College students were inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa (OK) for spring 2024, the premiere Greek-letter leadership honorary that recognizes the achievements of college students in at least one of these five areas: Scholarship Athletics Community Service/Student Activities Journalism/Student Media Creative/Performing Arts

The Burton D. Morgan Center for Integrated Entrepreneurship at Hiram College annually hosts a series of idea competitions that give students the opportunity to pitch their best ideas. Each fall, the College hosts ideablitz!, an idea generation and development event in which contestants develop an enterprise idea through the creation of a written concept statement. During the spring semester, students examine the feasibility of their concept through the ideabuild! competition.

This year's annual Outstanding Student Employee is Sadie Qualls! Our runner ups are Makayla Thomas and Rafael Rodriguez! Each year, Hiram College observes National Student Employment Week by recognizing our student employees and the invaluable work they perform. It's more important now than ever to appreciate each other and show thanks for jobs well done.