Eight students will be honored during Fall 2012 Commencement ceremonies as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Alumni Association’s Outstanding Graduates.
Every spring and fall semester, deans from the eight academic colleges each nominate a student as an Outstanding Graduate, based on leadership, scholarship and service. A selection committee of the Alumni Association interviews the candidates and selects one for the overall award.
That overall winner will be announced during Commencement on Dec. 15.
Here’s a look at this semester’s Outstanding Graduates.
Hannah Ray is the Outstanding Graduate for the College of the Arts. She is music major with a concentration in piano pedagogy. She will graduate with a 3.491 GPA. Ray has received a TOPS scholarship, has been on the Dean’s List and has been awarded music scholarships for the past two academic years.
She is secretary of the student chapter the Louisiana Music Teachers Association and has been involved with its fundraising and performances. Ray is also a member of the Music Teachers National Association.
She has volunteered to play the piano at some area nursing homes and assisted living facilities and has given free piano lessons for students in the community. Ray plans to teach and apply for graduate school.
She wants to remain in the Lafayette area and plans to stay involved with the regional chapter of the Music Teachers National Association.
She is the daughter of James and Edie Ray of Carencro, La.
Madeleine Richard is the Outstanding Graduate for the B.I. Moody III College of Business Administration.
She is finance major with a 3.948 GPA. She completed her degree in three and a half years, including a summer spent in Italy through the Study Abroad program.
Richard has been on the President’s List and is a member of UL Lafayette’s Honors Program and of Alpha Lambda Delta, Sigma Alpha Lambda and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies. She’s received the Hardee Memorial Endowed Scholarship, UL Lafayette Alumni Scholarship, UL Lafayette Valedictorian Scholarship, UL Lafayette Rally Scholarship, UL Lafayette Centennial Scholarship, Gulf South Pipeline Scholarship and a TOPS Performance Award.
Richard has been president of the Student Alumni Association, attended a National 4-H Congress, has served on UL Lafayette’s Official Ring Committee and was a peer mentor for the First Year Experience UNIV 100 course.
She was a volunteer for the Maltrait Memorial Catholic School annual Spring Bazaar and for the Holy Rosary Catholic Church annual fundraiser. Richard has tutored UL Lafayette and high school students, taught catechism and served as a commissioner for local and federal elections.
She plans to pursue a graduate degree in economics and obtain a job involving budgetary analysis. She wants to live in the Lafayette area and remain active in UL Lafayette events.
Richard is the daughter of Gerard and Suzanne Richard of Kaplan, La.
Justin Breaux is the Outstanding Graduate for the College of Education.
He is an instrumental music education major with a 3.957 GPA. He has been on the Dean’s List and is a TOPS Honors recipient. Breaux was the Outstanding Senior for the UL Lafayette School of Music.
He has received the Clarence H. and Ezell Butaud Coleman Memorial Endowed Scholarship, Dr. Ben and Clare Roy Thibodeaux Scholarship, Bowling Scholarship, Lafayette Music Scholarship, Alumni Band Scholarship, Phi Mu Alpha “Orpheus” Scholarship, Friends of Music Scholarship, Mark Duplin Endowed Scholarship, Paul LaCour Endowed Scholarship, Budge Cutrera Endowed Scholarship and John Gilfrey Endowed Scholarship.
Breaux was drum major for UL Lafayette’s Pride of Acadiana Marching Band for three years and a member of the Louisiana Intercollegiate Honor Band, the UL Lafayette Wind Ensemble and the UL Lafayette Symphony Orchestra. He also performed in the 2011 Three Kings Parade in Madrid.
He has served as a volunteer for the National Kidney Foundation; the Kidney Cancer Association; Goodwill; Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Acadiana; St. Joseph’s Diner; Haiti Quake Relief; and the Lafayette Parish School System.
Breaux plans to pursue a master of music degree in conducting at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He wants to be a high school band director, earn a doctoral degree in music education and then become a band director at a university.
Breaux is the son of the late Becky Breaux of Lafayette.
Jennifer Osten is the Outstanding Graduate for the College of Engineering.
She is petroleum engineering major with a 3.757 GPA. Osten has been on the President’s List, Dean’s List and Honor Roll. She is a member of the Honors Program. She served as vice president of Pi Epsilon Tau honor society in 2011 and received a TOPS Opportunity Award. Osten has earned the Society of Petroleum Engineers Scholarship, the American Association of Drilling Engineers Scholarship and the American Petroleum Institute Chapter Scholarship.
She attended two SPE Annual Technical Conferences and Exhibitions: one in Florence, Italy, and the other in Denver. She is a member of the American Association of Drilling Engineers and the Louisiana Engineering Society.
Osteen has been a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, the Houston Food Bank and the Welcome House Shelter. She was employed as a student worker in UL Lafayette’s Registrar’s Office for five years and became its lead student worker.
Osten plans to work as a petroleum engineer with a world leader in oil and gas production.
She is the daughter of Earl and Holly Osten of Crowley, La., and the mother of a 4-year-old daughter, Audrie Elizabeth.
Kashia Vice is the Outstanding Graduate for the College of General Studies.
She is a general studies major and has maintained a 4.0 GPA. Vice has been named to the President’s List every semester she has been at UL Lafayette. She was a member of UL Lafayette’s Honors Program, and the Alpha Lambda Delta and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies. She is a member of the Pre-Professional Society.
Vice received the UL Lafayette Centennial Scholarship, the UL Lafayette Centennial Valedictorian Scholarship and the State Literary Rally Scholarship.
She received an honorable mention for the Moller Prize. She has been a volunteer for St. Joseph’s Diner, the Children’s Museum of Acadiana and the Susan G. Komen Race for a Cure.
Vice plans to apply to attend the dental hygiene program at LSU. She also hopes to improve her photography skills, with the goal of becoming a professional photographer.
Vice is the daughter of Donna and Kenneth Vice of Youngsville, La.
Marka Johnson is the Outstanding Graduate for the College of Liberal Arts.
She is sociology major with a 3.79 GPA. She has been named to the Dean’s List and earned two Academic Achievement Awards. She is the Outstanding Graduate in sociology, a member of the UL Lafayette Sociology Club and received the Sociology Scholarship.
As an AmeriCorps member, she received the AmeriCorps Team Player Award and the AmeriCorps Community Service Medal. Also, she earned the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award. A member of the U.S. Army National Guard, she has earned the U.S. Army Service Medal, U.S. Army Distinguished Service Medal, U.S. Army National Guard Achievement Medal, the U.S. Humanitarian Service Medal and the U.S. Army Expert Badge.
She has volunteered with Rebuilding Together, Habitat for Humanity, the Cinderella Project and AmeriCorps. Johnson also participated in Bayou Grace Community Service and the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program to help preserve the Louisiana coastline. She spent a week in New Orleans, with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, to help rebuild homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
As a member of the U.S. National Guard, she also spent about six weeks in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina struck south Louisiana. Johnson plans to continue her education in social work at LSU and obtain an addiction-counseling license in Louisiana.
Her goal is to help soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. She will continue to serve as a soldier in the U.S. Army National Guard and undertake various community service activities.
Johnson is the mother of two daughters, Chloe Justice Stacks, 8, and Makayla Hope Johnson, 4.
Alyssa Ledet is the Outstanding Graduate for the College of Nursing and Allied Health Professionals.
She is a nursing major with a 3.406 GPA. She has been on the Dean’s List and the President’s List. A member of the UL Lafayette Honors Program, she was invited to join Sigma Theta Tau International honor society.
Ledet has received the Thibodeaux Endowed Scholarship, 40 & 8 Nursing Scholarship and the Dr. Harold P. Chastant Award for Clinical Excellence Scholarship. She was one of 11 students selected for the Oschner Medical Systems Nurse Tech Honors Internship in New Orleans.
She is president of the UL Lafayette Student Nurses Association and a member of the Louisiana Association of Student Nurses, the National Student Nurses Association and the Louisiana Association of Student Nurses.
Ledet has performed community service with Journey Hospice, Cornerstone South Assisted Living, Opelousas General Health Clinic, Junior Diabetes Research Foundation’s Walk to Cure Diabetes, the Lafayette Community Healthcare Clinic, and Women’s and Children’s Hospital. She plans to work in a hospital setting, preferably in a critical care area. She would like to become certified in a specialty area and attend graduate school to obtain a doctorate in nursing practice.
Ledet is the daughter of Neal and Diana Ledet of Lafayette.
Megan Waterman is the Outstanding Graduate in the Ray P. Authement College of Sciences.
She is biology major who completed her degree in three and a half years. She has a 3.93 GPA and has been on the President’s List. Waterman is a member of Sigma Alpha Lambda, Phi Beta Delta, UL Lafayette’s Honors Program and the Student Advisory Committee.
She received the Teagle Scholarship, was named an All-American scholar/athlete for three years as a member of the UL Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns softball team and to the Sun Belt Conference Commissioner’s List.
Her community service has been with Habitat for Humanity, the Special Olympics, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Miles Perret Cancer Services, Women’s and Children’s Hospital, and Food Net, as well as the Reading in Red and Buddy Ball programs. She was a volunteer biology tutor at the Student-Athlete Academic Center.
Waterman’s goal is to become an orthopedic surgeon. She plans to enroll in the master’s program in biology at UL Lafayette while continuing her softball career and before enrolling in medical school.
She is the daughter of Douglas and Theresa Waterman of Ashburn, Va.
CONTACT: Charlie Bier
charlie@louisiana.edu