The 2016 Grove City College Senior Man and Woman of the Year awards were presented, respectively, to Benjamin Marasco ’16 and Emily Rothbard ’16 on April 30 during the Family Weekend Recognition Convocation on campus.
The awards are presented jointly by the leadership honoraries Mortar Board and Omicron Delta Kappa as a service to Grove City College. The selections are made on the basis of scholarship, leadership and service. The candidates were voted on by students and faculty. It is one of the highest honors that the College can bestow on studens. Their names are recorded for posterity on a memorial plaque on a boulder outside Harbison Chapel on campus. Former recipients of this prestigious honor have gone on to become leaders in faith, education, business, law and health care.
Rothbard, of Bel Air, Md., is a Communication Studies major with minors in Spanish and Biblical and Religious Studies. Over her career at Grove City College, she’s been a student assistant in the Career Services Office, a member of Orientation Board, an active participant in SGA coffeehouses, a four-year member of the varsity softball team and serves as ODK vice president. She studied abroad in Seville, Spain, her junior year and worked as a blogger for Inside GCC, OB and her study abroad program.
Other finalists for Woman of the Year were: Karolina Lagerquist, Grace Leuenberger, Amy Rumbaugh and Joscelyn Seaton.
Marasco, of Washington, Pa., is a Finance major. He has been a resident assistant, a Student Government Association representative, active on the Student-Faculty Review Committee, a varsity swimmer, worked on campus leadership programs, led Inner-City Outreach mission trips to Memphis, Tenn., and served as president of ODK. He is also a two-time winner of the Grove City College Elevator Pitch Competition and collected top prizes in the College’s Business Plan Competition and GCC Shark Tank.
Other finalists for Man of the Year were: Evan Avery, Elijah Coryell, Dane Mossgrove and Dan Rzewnicki.