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 California
State University, Fresno named Ashley DeFranco of Clovis as 2008
President Medalist, the highest honor the university presents to a
graduate.
DeFranco (shown at right with Frsno State President John Welty) represents the College of Social Sciences.
She earned her B.S.
in Criminology and a minor in philosophy with a 4.0 grade point average.
Called a “student and scholar extraordinaire,” she was a member of the
first class in the Criminology Honors Program.
Fresno State President John
D. Welty presented DeFranco with the award during Commencement at the
Save Mart Center.
The Division of Student
Affairs reports a record 4,341 students completed their work in the
2007-08 summer, fall or spring semesters and were eligible for
bachelor’s degrees. In addition, 790 were eligible for master’s degrees
and 13 earned doctorates – seven in Educational Leadership and six for
the first time in Physical Therapy.
The President’s Medal winner
is selected from the nine undergraduate Dean’s Medalists who represent
the academic colleges and schools and the Division of Student Affairs.
Friday night, Chie Maekoya
was awarded the University Graduate Medal during the Graduate Degree
Hooding Ceremony for master’s and doctoral degree candidates. That medal
is the top honor for a graduate student, chosen from the nine Dean’s
Graduate Medal winners.
Maekoya represents the Kremen
School of Education and Human Development.
DeFranco has overcome
obstacles in order to earn her education. When her mother became a
single parent and worked 60 hours a week in order to support the family,
DeFranco concentrated on her education. Her determination and good study
habits started in elementary school and continued at Hallmark Charter
High School in Sanger, and she earned a partial scholarship to Fresno
State.
Described by one of her Fresno State professors as “the brightest and
hardest working undergraduate I have ever had,” DeFranco was on the
President’s List for perfect grades every semester.
In 2007, she presented a paper, “A Comparison of the California Megan’s
Law and the National Sex Offender Registry,” at the American Association
of Behavioral and Social Science Conference.
She completed internships at the United States Department of
Agriculture-Compliance Branch and the law firm of McCormick Barstow.
DeFranco was a founding member, vice president and competitor with the
Mock Trial Club; president of Phi Alpha Delta, a law fraternity; and
president of the Political Science Association.
In the community, DeFranco volunteered at Race for the Cure, Kids Day
and the Center for Advanced Research and Technology. She has also been a
mentor in the Project SMART elementary program.
DeFranco has been accepted to the University of California, Davis School
of Law.
Also at the ceremony, The California State University and Fresno State
conferred an honorary doctoral degree on Fresno businessman and
philanthropist Pete P. Peters. He received the honorary degree of Doctor
of Humane Letters.
Peters, who will celebrate his 91st birthday this month, said the
honorary doctorate award “is the best present that I have ever
received.”
He also urged community members and new graduates to give generously
back to the community as a way of saying thanks and to support future
generations.
A posthumous bachelor’s degree in French was awarded to Robert Wheeler
Luce who died in December.
Seventy-one retiring professors were conferred emeritus status,
including Dr. Paul Harvey Wallace of the Department of Criminology, who
received the honor posthumously. Wallace died in August.
DVD copies are available for purchase of video coverage of the
University Commencement, the Graduate Hooding Ceremony, the convocations
of the Kremen School of Education and Human Development and Craig School
of Business convocations and the Latino Commencement Celebration.
Details: 559.278.4668.
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