2021 Honors Convocation Award Winners

Delaney Stersic and Kendrick Green were named the Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award winners while Eric Kos received the Rice Award for Outstanding Teaching during SHU’s annual Honors Convocation May 1, 2021, in a virtual format.

Stersic graduated in May 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in Communications. She was a Peer Mentor, Public Safety Dispatcher and a two-time NAIA All-American Track and Field scholar-athlete. She completed an internship in the SHU Marketing Office this spring and also earned an Outstanding Student Award in the Humanities Division. Next fall, the Madison High School graduate will pursue her master’s degree in Higher Education at the University of Michigan, and will attempt to walk-on UM’s track and field team.

Green graduated in May 2021 with a bachelor’s degree, double majoring in Law and Politics and Spanish. In winter 2020, he studied abroad at Universidad Veritas in San Jose, Costa Rica. On campus, he has been a Resident Assistant, a member of the SHU football team and the treasurer, vice-president and eventual president of the Men of Distinction student organization. He was a Student Life Division award recipient for Servant Leadership, and was SHU’s recipient of the 2021 Martin Luther King Jr. Student Service Scholarship. He also served as a 2021 commencement student speaker for the College of Arts and Sciences.

Saints Athletics Highlights—2020-21 Academic Year

Saints Excel in the Classroom

A total of 587 SHU student-athletes earned a 3.11 cumulative GPA in the winter semester 2021. Women’s soccer led with a 3.67 GPA. Rounding out the top five were men’s golf (3.54), women’s bowling (3.52), and women’s cross country and softball (3.5 each). All nine of the women’s teams earned a 3.0 GPA or higher with an aggregate GPA of 3.41. The aggregate men’s GPA was a 2.92. Dance led the coed sports with a 3.12.

Bauer Elected to NAIA Hall of Fame

Longtime cross country and track and field coach Tim Bauer will be inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in spring 2022. A former standout student-athlete for the Saints, Bauer has been a member of the Siena community for more than 40 years The 1982 graduate returned in 1983 as a graduate assistant before taking over as the full-time head coach in 1984. During his tenure, he has coached more 300 All-Americans, 100 All-American honorable mentions, more than 100 NAIA Scholar-Athletes, more than 25 National Champions, three Olympic Trials qualifiers, and one American Champion. Bauer’s teams have won 45 championships, including 30 Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference titles. He has had two teams finish in the top four in the nation, as well as numerous teams place in the top 10 in NAIA championship events. He also has served as the president of both the NAIA Track and Field Association and the NAIA Cross Country Association.

Class Notes—Fall 2021

Notables:

James Ebben, former dean and interim president at Siena Heights between the terms of Lou Vaccaro and Sister Cathleen Real, passed away Nov. 30, 2020. In 1987, he became the first lay president of Edgewood College, a position he held for 17 years.

Dr. Mike Dawson passed away on Nov. 16, 2020. Siena Heights University hosted a memorial service for the former board member and benefactor Aug. 14 in O’Laughlin Stadium and Dawson Field. “Doc,” as he was affectionately called, left a great legacy at Siena Heights, as well as in the Lenawee community. He was a member of the SHU Board of Trustees for 21 years, serving as chair of the Academic Affairs Committee for many years. He also was a volunteer football coach, and was a very generous benefactor to the university, particularly in athletics. In fact, the field at O’Laughlin Stadium is named after Mike and his late wife, Lynne. “We are a grateful community to Mike and for Mike,” said SHU President Sister Peg Albert, OP, PhD. “He served this community in so many ways over so many years. He is an example to all of us as one who persevered through adversity, who cared enough to support the things he loved, and who found his way into our hearts in special ways.”