Martha Peterson Prize Goes to Kim Pernell’07

From the Commencement stage, College President John Burris described Kim Pernell’07 (Austin, Texas) as an inquisitive, accomplished, and ethical person.

Photo By Bob Rashid

Faculty members stand while applauding Kim Pernell’07, who received the 2007 Martha Peterson Prize

The sociology major made her four years at Beloit count, applying herself academically and to many causes larger than herself. Pernell graduated summa cum laude, earning departmental honors in sociology and membership in Phi Beta Kappa.

For her outstanding achievements, she was awarded the Martha Peterson Prize at Commencement.

“No student has acted more in the spirit of what Beloit College stands for,” Burris said of Pernell, just before announcing her name. The award was a surprise.

Pernell will begin graduate studies in sociology at Harvard this fall.

Faculty members nominate four students from each academic division for the Martha Peterson Prize each year. The nominations are presented to senior class members, who choose the winner by ballot.

Named for Beloit’s seventh president, the Martha Peterson Prize is awarded annually to a Beloit College graduate who embodies the school’s liberal arts traditions and is an active contributor to the College community. The honor includes a monetary prize and a framed award.

 

Jenna Hunter’07 Nabs Blue Skies Award

Bringing good cheer to everyday life on campus earned Jenna Hunter’07 special recognition at the 2007 Commencement ceremonies. Hunter received the Warren Miller Blue Skies Award.

Photo By Bob Rashid

Jenna Hunter’07, with her framed Warren Miller cartoon and her trademark smile, returns to her seat after receiving the Blue Skies Award at Commencement.

The environmental geology major from Hillsborough, N.C., was widely known in nearly every campus quarter for her upbeat spirit. She was selected for the honor by members of the Student Affairs staff.

The award is named for Warren Miller’60, an artist who entertained readers for years with his cartoons in the New Yorker magazine. It is given annually to a member of Beloit’s senior class who helps to “foster good cheer, a good-natured perspective, and saving grace in the conduct of our daily lives together on campus.”

“This year’s winner is full of life, free spirited, spontaneous, thoughtful, and willing to share her creative and playful energy with the rest of campus,” President Burris said, as he handed Hunter a framed print of a cartoon Warren Miller created especially for the award at Beloit. “She always makes you feel as if something wonderful is going to happen.”

 

Family Connections

As many as 13 graduates in the class of 2007 were known to have family ties to Beloit, through a circle of aunts, uncles, siblings, parents, and grandparents who came before them. Five graduates could even claim a rare double connection, with both parents as alumni. (For their profiles, go to the "Let the Circle Widen" story.)

David Leach’74 with his son, Andrew Leach’07.	Jesse Salgado’07 with his mother, Luanne Poff Salgado’82.	Sela Underwood’07 with her mother, Sela Barker’76.	Molly Ridgway’71 and daughter, Holly Willborn’07.

Alex Pratt’07, center, with, from left, his uncle, Joseph Breiter’88, his father, Scott Pratt’81, his mother, Mary Breiter’82, and his aunt, Kathleen Breiter Ramirez’85.	Siblings Jessica Carey’07 and Matthew Carey’98.	Graduate Jack Gallagher with grandparents Carole Olson Lemke’56 and David Lemke’53.

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