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At the Finish Line!

Congratulations to our August Honors Graduates

Congratulations to the August 2023 University Honors graduates! We recognize these outstanding students for the contributions they've made to the Honors Program and university, and wish them well as they now embark on new adventures and opportunities. Best wishes on the road ahead!


Kyle David Belanger

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Major: Classical Studies
Thesis: The Dialect of Human Liberty in Thomas Carlyle's Past and Present and J.S. Mill's On Liberty
Advisor: Paul E. Kerry
Plans After Graduation: Kyle will attend Harvard Divinity School this fall.

Leah Joanna Brown

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Major: History
Thesis: Captain George Cannon: One Man's Role in the Conquest of Sugar in the Transatlantic Slave Trade
Advisor: Christopher C. Jones
Plans After Graduation: Leah has accepted a position at Deseret Management Company


Louisa Eastley

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Major: English
Thesis: Bookbinding in the Middle Ages: Presenting Book History in a University Setting
Advisor: Jamie Horrocks
Plans After Graduation: Louisa will attend graduate school at the University of Iowa this fall.

Bryan Robert Hazard Habashi

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Major: Political Science
Thesis: What Are Our Unenumerated Rights as Americans? An Analysis of the Ninth Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment’s Privileges or Immunities Clause Using Original Intent Originalism
Advisor: Ray Christensen
Plans After Graduation: Bryan is studying for the LSAT and plans to apply for law school this fall.

Jarom James Reiner Hickenlooper

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Major: Psychology/German Studies
Thesis: A Qualitative Case Study Examining Discrepancy Between Prospective Outcome Using ROM and Narrative Client Retrospective View
Advisor: Benjamin McKay Ogles
Plans After Graduation: Jarom plans to attend graduate school after a gap year.

McCord J. Lethco

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Major: Economics
Thesis: Is Costco Worth Incentivizing? An Analysis from the City's Perspective
Advisor: Jaren Clive Pope
Plans After Graduation:

Kaden James Makechnie-Hardy

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Major: Cybersecurity
Thesis: Side-Channel Leakage from the Advanced Encryption Standard on Field Programmable Gate Arrays
Advisor: Jeffrey Brant Goeders
Plans After Graduation:

Madeleine Meldrum

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Major: Sociology
Thesis: "What's Gonna Happen With Us?": How Social Networks Change After Marriage
Advisor: Jonathan Jarvis
Plans After Graduation: Madeleine will be attending graduate school at Indiana University this fall.

Emily J. Peterson

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Major: History
Thesis: Vanguards of Change in the "Georgia of the North": Youth Activism in the New Jersey Civil Rights Movement, 1935-1955, A Digital History Project
Advisor: Rebecca Lyn DeSchweinitz
Plans After Graduation: Emily will be employed at the Utah Department of Commerce.

Madsyn Janine Selph

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Major: Sociology
Thesis: The Criminalization of Female Genital Mutilation in Ohio: A Social and Political Analysis
Advisor: Jane Lilly Lopez
Plans After Graduation: Madsyn is employed in the Paralegal department at Qualtrics.

Lauren Dorothy Smith

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Major: Spanish
Thesis: Student Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Mindfulness Interventions in the ESL Classroom
Advisor: Mark W. Tanner
Plans After Graduation: Lauren is spending a year abroad in Spain.

Joshua Quayle Stevenson

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Major: Linquistics
Thesis: The "Missionary Voice": Bona Fide Sociolect or Figment of the Mormon Linguistic Imagination?
Advisor: Joseph Abraham Stanley
Plans After Graduation: Josh will be attending graduate school at the University of Virginia.

Isabelle Ashley Stoddard

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Major: International Relations
Thesis: Islamophobia: The Effect of Personal Interaction and the Media on Arab Prejudice in Spain
Advisor: Joshua Gubler
Plans After Graduation: Isabelle will attend law school at BYU.

Daniel Pearson Taylor

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Major: Computer Science
Thesis: What's the Password? Account Sharing in the Context of Passwordless Authentication
Advisor: Daniel Zappala
Plans After Graduation: Daniel will be working as a Cryptologic Computer Scientist for the Department of Defense.

Daira Sofia Velasco Vega

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Major: Civil Engineering
Thesis: Thermal Performance of Thin-Shell Concrete Dome Structures
Advisor: Kendrick Monroe Shepherd
Plans After Graduation: Sofia will attend graduate school this fall at BYU.

Emma Wheeler Volz

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Major: Media Arts Studies
Thesis: Qosqo: A Documentary Approach to the Preservation of Andean Culture
Advisor: Brad Barber
Plans After Graduation: Emma is applying to graduate schools.

Emma Katherine Webster

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Major: Economics
Thesis: Understanding the Causal Relationship Between State-Level Childcare Tax Credits and Female Labor Participation
Advisor: Riley Edward Wilson
Plans After Graduation: Emma is taking a gap year before attending graduate school.

Elena Rachel Welch

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Major: English
Thesis: Songs on the Road: A Novel
Advisor: Julie Kalani Smith Allen
Plans After Graduation: Lane will be working.

Grace Marie Whitehead

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Major: Biochemistry
Thesis: Cloning a Fusion Gene for the Identification of the Proteins Contained in Ubiquitin-Rich Condensates
Advisor: Christopher M. Tracy
Plans After Graduation: Grace will be attending medical school.

Suzy Soochong Yi

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Major: Political Science
Thesis: Party Contacting, Group Identity, and COVID-19: An Analysis of Asian American Voter Turnout
Advisor: Jessica R. Preece
Plans After Graduation: Suzy will be teaching as an adjunct faculty for Honors this year while she applies for law school.