Alethea L. Gaarden selected as the Bishop's Award for Academic Excellence recipient

2014 May 21

Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pa., presents the Bishop's Award for Academic Excellence each year; this year the honor went to Alethea Gaarden, who graduated on Sunday, May 18 with majors in both English and political science and a perfect 4.0 grade point average.

Her majors fall within two different academic schools, but the faculty in both are unanimous in their praise for Gaarden's talents, many of them describing her as one of the brightest students they've ever taught. Perceptive and articulate, she made insightful connections between literature, history and politics in classroom discussions and in her writing.

She's a skilled writer, who this spring won the P. Barry McAndrew Award for Best Critical Essay on Literature. That's on top of two earlier McAndrew awards for her original poetry. She was one of a select few English majors chosen to present their work at a graduate conference at St. Bonaventure University, and she's been accepted to present a paper this summer at a colloquium on C.S. Lewis at Taylor University.

Gaarden's equally accomplished on the political science side. She's worked as a research assistant to Dr. Randy Clemons since 2011, and already has a co-authored a publication on national obesity policy. Dr. Clemons also acknowledged her assistance on another paper and they've been working together on a simulation that's headed toward publication this summer.

In addition to her academic honors, she was a tutor on campus, studied for a term at Mercyhurst's campus in Dungarvan, Ireland, and worked as a volunteer crew member on Erie's Brig Niagara.

Gaarden was inducted into the honor societies of both her majors. She combines the ability to speak well with strong writing ability, works well both independently and collaboratively, and has strong skills in research and analysis and in critical thinking.

Though she clearly could have pursued either of her major fields, she decided to enter the master's degree program in literature at the University of Ohio, where she's been offered a full scholarship.

She is the daughter of Richard and Bonnie Gaarden.