Area winter and summer U of I grads announced

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign announced graduates for the fall semester 2020, as well as those who graduated in August 2020 last week. There were 3,428 graduates in December of which 10 are from our area.  In August, one area student was among the 1,626 conferred degrees last year.

St. Joseph native Rachel Gherna, an English major, earned her bachelor degree with High Distinction and graduated Cum Laude in December.

High Distinction is awarded to students with a GPA of 3.5 or higher for exceptional, praiseworthy work in the honors seminars and English courses. The candidate must also write an honors thesis with two out of three readers on the review panel recommending the work for High Distinction.

Cum Laude recognition is given to students in the top 12% of their class that maintains a GPA of at least 3.87.


December 2020 graduates include:

Julie Block, Tolono
Master of Education in Education Policy, Organization and Leadership
Graduate College

Robert Malmberg, Tolono
Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences
Liberal Arts and Sciences

Tara Van Pelt, Tolono
Master of Social Work
Graduate College

Jonam Walter, Tolono
Master of Science in Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Graduate College

Kelly White, Tolono
Doctor of Philosophy in Education Policy, Organization and Leadership
Graduate College

Sophie Woolard, Tolono
Bachelor of Social Work
School of Social Work

Lauren Gherna, St Joseph
Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences
Liberal Arts and Sciences

Kohlten Johnson, St Joseph
Bachelor of Science in Agricultural and Consumer Economics
Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Taryn Lempa, St Joseph
Master of Business Administration
Graduate College

Journey Slowikowski, St Joseph
Bachelor of Science in Liberal Arts and Sciences
Liberal Arts and Sciences

August 2020 degree recipient:

Courtney McGraw, Tolono
Master of Social Work
Graduate College



The list above is provided by the university and based on the address supplied by students. Students who used a campus address as their mailing address may not be included in this article. This list may not include individual graduates conferred after February 4, 2020. If you suspect a problem with this list, contact the University of Illinois at (217)333-1085 or them at News Bureau. Did you, your son/daughter or a grandchild graduate from a public or private university back in May or this month? Let us know by sending their 2020 college graduation information.

37 honored on University of Illinois Dean's List

This week, the University of Illinois announced the names of students recognized for outstanding academic achievement with the release of the Fall 2020 Dean's List. Thirty-seven students with ties to The Sentinel area at Illinois' flagship university were among the 10,867 students earning recognition for their scholastic performance.

Students named to the UIUC Dean's List must complete coursework and grading to fall into the top 20% of a student’s college class or curriculum. Classes taken pass/fail are not counted toward their academic standing for this award.

The list below does not include Dean's List honorees added after Jan. 27 or students who did not list their hometown as Royal, Ogden, Philo, Tolono, Sidney or St. Joseph with the University.



Benjamin Albrecht, St. Joseph
Senior, Applied Health Sciences

Elanor Atkins, Tolono
Sophomore, Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Emily Bluhm, St. Joseph
Junior, Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Nicholas Cagle, Ogden
Junior, Liberal Arts and Sciences

Sarah Chahine, St. Joseph
Sophomore, Applied Health Sciences

Zachary Chalmers, Philo
Junior, Liberal Arts and Sciences

Hailey Collum, St. Joseph
Senior, Fine and Applied Arts

Andrea Cunningham, St. Joseph
Freshman, Education

Carson Florey, St. Joseph
Senior, Liberal Arts and Sciences

Tyler Gadbury, Tolono
Freshman, Liberal Arts and Sciences

William Gay, Philo
Senior, Liberal Arts and Sciences

Lauren Gherna, St. Joseph
Senior, Liberal Arts and Sciences

Christian Hasler, Philo
Junior, Liberal Arts and Sciences

Evan Hawkins, St. Joseph
Senior, Media

Mason Housenga, St. Joseph
Senior, Engineering

Ian Hulette, St. Joseph
Senior, Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Kohlten Johnson, St. Joseph
Senior, Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Riley Knott, St. Joseph
Senior, Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Mark Maddock, St. Joseph
Junior, Liberal Arts and Sciences

Mira McLain, St. Joseph
Senior, Liberal Arts and Sciences

Emma Messman, Sidney
Junior, Education

Abigayle Mizer, Ogden
Junior, Liberal Arts and Sciences

Brendan Olauson, St. Joseph
Junior, Engineering

Natasha Plummer, Tolono
Freshman, Applied Health Sciences

Skylar Price, St. Joseph
Junior, Applied Health Sciences

Kassidy Reno, Philo
Sophomore, Applied Health Sciences

Jenna Schaefer, St. Joseph
Sophomore, Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Abigail Schlueter, St. Joseph
Junior, Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Rylee Sjuts, St. Joseph
Sophomore, Liberal Arts and Sciences

Benjamin Snodgrass, Tolono
Junior, Applied Health Sciences

Emilee Sorensen, Ogden
Senior, Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Abigail Tierney, Philo
Senior, Liberal Arts and Sciences

Shelby Turner, Philo
Senior, Liberal Arts and Sciences

Israel Wells, Sidney
Senior, Applied Health Sciences

Madisyn Welsh, St. Joseph
Junior, Social Work

Madison Wilson, Philo
Senior, Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Zoey Witruk, St. Joseph
Freshman, Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences



The list above does not include Dean's List honorees added after Jan. 29 or students who did not list their hometown as Royal, Ogden, Philo, Tolono, Sidney or St. Joseph with the University. If you were on this semester's Dean's List and your name were omitted from our list above please know it was not intentional. University communications and public affair offices typically provide or make available lists of fall and spring graduates by zip code. Quite often students living off-campus supply their school address in the city they live while attending school as their contact address instead of their hometown address. If you supplied the institution with a different home address, and would like to have your name added to the list hometowns we cover above, email us your information to editor@oursentinel.com. We'll be happy ato add your name to the listing.


Did you graduate from college with an undergraduate or advance degree in December? Tell us about it!



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