WHEELING, WV, May 7, 2008 -Glen Dale resident Lauren Marie Twigg, a political and economic philosophy major, has been named Wheeling Jesuit University's valedictorian for the class of 2008. Based upon grade point average and academic merit, Twigg was selected after all grades were reported to the university registrar this past Tuesday.
The daughter of Bernard and Sharon Twigg, also of Glen Dale, she is a Laut Scholar and is graduating summa cum laude. Lauren will address her fellow graduates, their families, university faculty, board of directors, commencement speaker the Most Rev. George Murry, S.J., bishop of Youngstown, and other distinguished guests at the university's 50th commencement ceremony, to be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 10.
The ceremony will be streamed online at www.wju.edu.
Currently a student clerk at the United States Attorney's Office in Wheeling, Twigg has been accepted into law school at Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law where she will earn her juris doctorate. While a student at Wheeling Jesuit, she also earned a minor in theater and took part in many campus theatrical productions.
“I'm very excited and proud to be class valedictorian,” she said. “Going to Wheeling Jesuit was the best decision I could have made. I have loved it here.”
Twigg served as an Academic Resource Center tutor for three years and was active in the Student Senate for one year. The subject of her speech will be encouragement to her fellow graduates and gratitude to those who made the moment possible, supported by the university's Latin motto, “Luceat Lux Vestra,” which translates to “let your light shine.”
The youngest of the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States, Wheeling Jesuit University offers students a high-quality private education. Since 1995 U.S. News & World Report has ranked Wheeling Jesuit University among the top institutions in its “Best Master's Universities in the South” category. The campus is also home to the Robert C. Byrd National Technology Transfer Center, the Erma Ora Byrd Center for Educational Technologies®, the NASA-sponsored Classroom of the Future, a Challenger Learning Center® and the Clifford M. Lewis Appalachian Institute.
