Members of the Honors community, Honors core faculty, esteemed deans and family and friends happily celebrated the graduation of the incredible Honors graduates in the class of 2024 on Friday, May 10th at the annual Honors Convocation in Hendricks Chapel. The graduates individually crossed the stage as their thesis titles were named, and were congratulated by their school or college’s respective Dean with an Honors medallion.

Watch the full Honors Convocation here 

During the ceremony, the winners of the Thesis Prizes were announced:

Creative

• Best Creative Thesis- Alexandra Gordon and Olivia Porrill, Intentional Communities, Counterculture, and Alternative Living: America’s Return to Communal Living - A Study of Modern Intentional Communities in Hyde Park, Chicago
• Honorable Mention- Ruqaiyah Bandukwala, Re-defining Women’s Agency in Sacred Burial Grounds

Humanities

• William Sauer's Award for Best Humanities Thesis- Iona Volynets, The Diversity of National Memory in Post-Soviet States
• Honorable Mention- Rachel Iannarelli, Forensic Linguistics: The Pragmatics of Police Interviews

Social Sciences

• Best Social Sciences Thesis- Sophia Clinton, Colonial Legacies: A Study of Queer Erasure in Sexual Health Policies in Chile, 1973-1990 
• Honorable Mention- Megan Cooper, Anti-Indigenous Sentiment and Right-Wing Ideational Populism in Araucanía, Chile

Natural Sciences and Engineering

• Best Natural Sciences and Engineering Thesis- Evan Tulsky, Targeting the Soleus and Quadricep Muscles Using Powered Robotic Rehabilitation Devices and Neuromuscular Control
• Honorable Mention- Miguel Guzman Aguirre, Harnessing Cholesterylation for Engineering Bio-active Nanoparticles
• Honorable Mention- Brendan Parlee, Examination of the Impact of Targeted Remediation on Student Outcomes in Introductory Physics

Profesional

• Orlin Prize Recipient and Best Professional Thesis- Alexis Wilner, Creating A More Inclusive Industry: A Guide to Supporting Disabled Theatre Artists in Production Disciplines
• Honorable Mention- Dylan France, Syracuse University’s Budgeting System: Responsibility Center Management

Congratulations to the prize winners and to all of the Honors graduates!