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Alumna, Student Among Top Honorees at Commencement

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2009-05-24

Louise McNamee ’70 and Robyn Stegman ’09, received coveted Algernon Sydney Sullivan Awards at the Mary Baldwin College Commencement May 24, recognizing their service, character, and spiritual qualities. McNamee accepted her award in recognition of a successful career and decades of service on the MBC Board of Trustees. Stegman received hers at the beginning of what promises to be a fascinating lifelong journey that takes her across international and societal borders.

McNamee was also honored with a second award, an prestigious honorary doctorate. Her first major moment on the Page Terrace stage where Commencement is held was in 1970, when she earned her bachelor’s degree in English, with honors, after just three years at MBC. She was the guest of honor as Commencement speaker in the mid-1980s and again in 2004, both times imparting invaluable lessons from her career and life. Her awards and accolades for advertising campaigns are numerous — including industry awards and being included in prestigious national lists, such as Fortune magazine’s “Women to Watch.” But it is her intense personal connection with clients in the advertising world that built her reputation as a “steel magnolia” in the field and created the phrase “McNamee magic” from at least one national magazine writer.

McNamee has displayed graciousness, encouragement, and generosity in all her dealings with Mary Baldwin College, and she is, above all, a believer in the liberal arts as the best preparation for life and career.

Stegman is just starting her post-graduate career journey. For her, seeing the world is just the beginning — and she has been to nearly two dozen countries already. Translating travel into action is the true value of international experiences. For example, Stegman connected a year-long study abroad experience in India with MBC when she and several other students created the Mary Baldwin Global Initiative to raise awareness of human trafficking and at-risk young girls around the world. A commitment to support Dhamma Moli girls school in Nepal, founded by nuns Stegman had met while in India, is the product of her attendance at the first-ever Clinton Global Initiative University. She also volunteered to mentor a student from Japan, becoming the college’s first MBC Ambassador, which is now a growing program.

This year, she served as the resident advisor for the International Hall Living-Learning Community, and took advantage of breaks during the academic year to teach computer literacy in Uganda and learn about the peace process in El Salvador with MBC Artist-in- Residence Claudia Bernardi. She was one of the first students to enroll in the college’s Semester of Service, and through that practicum she organized a social entrepreneurism speaker series, interfaith dialogues, and MBC’s first Global Awareness Week. Not surprisingly, Stegman recently became one of the first to be inducted into the college’s Global Citizens Society.

After a month of summer work with the Phoenix Project engaged in social entrepreneurship as a strategy to address poverty in Virginia, Stegman will start a year-long placement as an English teacher in South Korea through English Apple.

“My goal is to be a part-time worker or student and a full-time traveler,” said Stegman, who is applying for a Rotary scholarship for graduate studies in social entrepreneurism in Mumbai, India.


Special Award Winners

  • Devon Burkeof Dover, New Hampshire: Martha Stackhouse Grafton Award, recognizing the senior with the highest cumulative grade point average. Not only did Burke maintain a perfect grade point average and earn distinction in her Asian studies major, she took advantage of study abroad opportunities – Japan in 2008 and Hungary in 2009 – and was involved in theatre productions at MBC. Her commitment to international study and understanding, including her Honors thesis, “Between Love and Marriage: Personal Choice and Romantic Love Within the Marriage Systems of India and Japan,” earned her a place in Mary Baldwin’s inaugural group of Global Citizenship Society inductees, and she is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She signed on to teach abroad through the Japanese Exchange and Teaching (JET) program after graduation.

  • Crystal Franceof Martinsville, Virginia: Adult Degree Program Outstanding Student. France distinguished herself as an outstanding communication major by going the extra mile — literally driving the extra miles from Martinsville to Staunton — to meet with communication faculty on campus and broaden her education with participation in Summer Week. France left a successful professional position to enroll full-time at MBC, and was named to the Dean’s List and inducted into the communications honor society Lambda Pi Eta for her efforts. During her MBC education, she also continued her involvement in community service organizations, such as Martinsville’s Democratic committee and Helping Empower Youth, a group dedicated to steering children and teens toward healthy choices.

  • Amanda Fertileof Keswick, Virginia: Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Student of the Year. Fertile is a licensed elementary teacher who came to MBC to earn her master’s degree with an add-on endorsement in special education. She took courses through the Staunton, Charlottesville, and Richmond adult and graduate centers to complete her degree and easily grasped the program’s inquiry method and techniques for diverse learners and adapted them to her classroom. One employer noted, “Parents trust her because they can sense her genuine concern for their child’s progress.” We’re not sure if she will make it to Commencment May 24 or not — she’s due with her first child at almost the same time!

  • Robert Jonesof Staunton, Virginia: MLitt/MFA Ariel Award. Jones showcased his mastery of comedic characters onstage as The Nurse in American Shakespeare Center’s high school touring production of Romeo & Juliet in fall 2008, and demonstrated his directing skills in his MFA directing production, Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II. Jones attended University of Texas at Austin before enrolling at Mary Baldwin, and he performed and directed numerous times in that university’s Shakespeare at Winedale summer touring company. He has traveled with the Winedale troupe to London several times, including a performance with the troupe at Gray’s Inn in fall 2008.