Six Penn State Seniors To Receive Oswald Awards
April 25, 2001
University Park, Pa. – Six seniors will be honored with John W. Oswald Awards for outstanding leadership at the University during Penn State’s annual Student Awards Ceremony.

Titus Ivory of Charlotte, N.C., Marcus Kalivoda of Erie, Matthew Levendusky of Greensburg, Megan Turnbull of Drexel Hill, Jennifer Shevchek of Churchville, and Celene Yanosko of Erie will receive the awards at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 29, at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel. The Oswald Award is named for Penn State’s 13th president (1970 to 1983).

A major force behind the men’s basketball squad’s recent successes, Ivory earned his bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology with a minor in Psychology last fall, and is continuing with non-degree graduate studies toward a teaching certificate. He has represented Penn State on the NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Conference, chaired the SAAB Diversity Committee, and participated in numerous charitable events and classroom motivational appearances.

Next month at Penn State Erie, Kalivoda will graduate from the Mechanical Engineering program. His involvement in numerous clubs and organizations includes service as a Resident Assistant, alternative spring break volunteer and Campus Ministry team member; and as chairperson for the Intern Community Service Action Team, he oversaw student participation in eight service projects totaling 550 hours.

Levendusky is noted for energizing his fellow students’ classroom participation by promoting the importance of student-faculty teams in improving large lecture classes. A Political Science major, he will graduate this semester having been nominated for the prestigious Rhodes, Marshall and Mitchell scholarships, and having attended graduate-level seminars since his sophomore year.

The captain of the Penn State Dance Team and an Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon participant, Shevchek is also a Renaissance Scholar and member of several honorary societies. She will graduate next month with a bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications, having been a peer mentor in the College of Communications, a tutor in the America Reads Program and an intern with WPSX-TV and the office of U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.).

Turnbull graduates this semester from the History program, and plans to attend law school to study alternative dispute resolution. She is chair of the University Park Allocation Committee Student Contact Team and Senior Resident Assistant for South Halls, and has also been active with the Oriana Singers and the Association of Residence Hall Students annual Movin’ On entertainment/education event for student groups and social causes.

Another Mechanical Engineering major set to graduate next month at Penn State Erie, Yanosko has served as an elementary school tutor and organizer of various community service initiatives in the Erie area. She has furthermore been a Resident Assistant for her campus since 1998, and a volunteer on alternative spring break trips to Baltimore, to work in a soup kitchen, and to Florida, to help construct a nature preserve.

**gwc**

Contact: Gary Cramer, Department of Public Information, (814) 865-7517 or gwc104@psu.edu