A member of the Union faculty since 1998, Batson holds a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois and has published widely on Francophone literature and the French theater. “My teaching comes from my own excitement and joy in the challenge of engaged learning, and I thank those of you who feed that joy with your engagement,” Batson told those assembled in Memorial Chapel.
Michelle Elyse Koo '08 received the Phi Beta Kappa Award for general education. Soprano Sarah Bills '06 and mezzo-soprano Sarah Serbun '06 received the Hollander Prize for music, presented by Lawrence J. Hollander, dean of engineering emeritus. The two prize winners performed a musical interlude, “Quando non ho più core,” by Handel.
McCarty recognized Dean's List students, whose names will appear on a plaque in Reamer Campus Center. At a pre-convocation dinner at College Park Hall, she welcomed 90 employees who joined the College in the last year.