Each year, faculty members from across the University select the most outstanding senior in their various academic schools, departments and programs to represent their units as a WMU Presidential Scholar. The Presidential Scholar designation is the highest academic honor that WMU can bestow on its undergraduates. Selection is based on the students' general academic excellence, academic and artistic excellence relative to their majors, and intellectual and artistic promise.
Art
Melina A. Wilcox is from Coloma, Michigan, and a graduate of Coloma High School. A member of WMU's Lee Honors College, she is majoring in Sculpture and expects to graduate in April 2019. Following graduation, Melina plans to develop her studio practice while traveling through southeast Asia. She plans to attend graduate school after traveling and working for a few years. In the summer of 2017, Melina took part in the Book Arts in Europe Program where she worked with ten other students in professional print studios across Italy, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands. She spent spring 2018 studying abroad in Florence, Italy at the Studio Arts College International. She has worked at the Richmond Center for Visual Arts as a gallery assistant for the last three years. As a gallery assistant, she is the primary person for the installation of exhibitions in the Eleanor and Robert Devries Student Art Gallery. Melina has received the Gwen Frostic Scholarship as well as the Foundations Art Star Award.
Melina’s bachelor of fine arts thesis was Point of Contact, a week-long show ending March 1 that explored the relationship between sculpture and dance: the tactility, non-verbal communication and spatial relationships essential in each medium.
Dance
Kyleigh E. Terris is from Saline, Michigan, and a graduate of Saline High School. She is majoring in Dance and Child and Family Development and expects to graduate in April 2019. Following graduation, Kyleigh plans to create dance education programs that foster healthy development for a range of students, including people with developmental delays. She hopes to open a studio that also offers dance therapy classes, emphasizing the importance of community engagement and the power the arts have to positively impact society. Kyleigh has been involved in the Great Works Dance Project for the last four years, performing works that are in the repertoire of professional companies. She presented work in the dance department’s student choreographed show three times. As a Child and Family Development major, she has participated in two summer internships with Northridge Church Children’s Ministry in 2017 and Washtenaw Intermediate School District’s Early On program in 2018. These field experiences developed her knowledge and fostered skills in curriculum development, teaching and volunteer organization. Working with children from birth to age three with developmental delays continued to deepen her passion for using movement to improve development. In 2018, as part of Orchesis Dance Society, she served as the Production Manager and produced the student choreographed performance. She has held the leadership positions in Movement Exchange. She has traveled to Panama City, Panama on three occasions to teach dance in local orphanages and outreach programs, providing underserved children with exposure to the arts.
Music
Maura E. Phelps is from Lacy, Washington, and a graduate of Timberline High School. She is majoring in instrumental performance–cello and music therapy and expects to graduate in April 2019. Following graduation, Maura plans to apply for graduate programs for instrumental performance in 2020 at a variety of schools including Boston Conservatory, Cincinnati Conservatory, Frost School of Music, and DePaul University. She looks forward developing clinical skills under the guidance of other music therapists within the Southwest Michigan area. She has developed an interest in working with populations within mental health, behavioral health, and forensic settings for all ages. Maura was awarded the Rhea Yeager Fetzer scholarship as well as the William and Fiona Denny Scholar award. She has spent three terms as the University Symphony principal cellist. Maura has had six solo recitals, performed in small string ensembles, and opportunities to work with a variety of guest artists and artists in residence in the School of Music. Maura is the assistant principal cellist within the Holland Symphony Orchestra, has performed in numerous musical theater productions through the university and at the Barn Theater, and is the symphony librarian for the university symphony.
Musical Theatre
Jonathan B. Mammel is from Rochester Hills, Michigan, and a graduate of Rochester High School. He is majoring in musical theatre performance and expects to graduate in August 2019. Following graduation, Jonathan plans to move to Chicago and further his education in performance through various improv and comedy theaters, including The Second City, Improv Olympics, and Annoyance. In his course of study in musical theatre, he has focused specifically on musical comedy, as shown by his work in University Theatre productions of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Lucky Stiff, and Women on the Verge on a Nervous Breakdown. Improv comedy has been another area of interest, specifically in the long-form and musical varieties. He has explored this interest through Western’s improv team, Worklight, where Jonathan was a member for his four years and a captain for the last two. Jonathan has been aided in his studies by the Western Michigan University’s Dean’s Scholarship and the department of theatre’s Mazzie-Marineau Scholarship. Jonathan will be studying abroad in London this summer through the theatre department. Outside of Western, Jonathan has performed at Farmers Alley Theatre in their production of It’s Only a Play, with Worklight in the last four Kalamazoo Improv Festivals and various improv theatres around the state, and on the web series Baked with Good Intentions, which he co-created, writes and produces. He has also been seen in Monster Box Theatre’s productions of Uncool: the Party, Now. Here. This., for which Jonathan and the rest of the cast were nominated for an Encore Michigan Wilde award.
Theatre
Sarah Steiner is from Marshall, Michigan, and a graduate of Marshall High School. She is majoring in acting and expects to graduate in April 2019. Following graduation, Sarah plans to return to her hometown to give back to the community and share her newfound knowledge and perspective. She will pursue a management position at a non-profit company and join theatre companies in Michigan to continue to grow herself along with teaching others about what theatre can do for an everchanging world. She is specifically interested in plays that create empathy through the exploration of different walks of life. Sarah’s honors thesis was drafting a play script to raise awareness of people living with Alzheimer's and their caregivers. Sarah has been the director of several projects, including Steel Magnolias by Robert Harling, Trifles by Susan Glaspell, Quest for Virgo with Theatre Kalamazoo New Playfest, and she co-directed a serial series with WMU’s New Play Project. Sarah serves on the Department of Theatre Student Advisory Board and is a member of the Student Recruitment Team. She is also a volunteer with the Calhoun County Fair and the Alzheimer’s Association.