Saint Martin’s College commencement will be Saturday, May 7
May 4, 2005
Lacey, Wash. – Commencement for the 395-member Saint
Martin’s College Class of 2005, the final class to receive degrees
before the college is renamed Saint Martin’s University, will be
Saturday, May 7.
Commencement ceremonies begin at 1 p.m. at Saint
Martin’s Pavilion, 5300 Pacific Ave. S.E. Included are graduates from
Saint Martin’s main campus, as well as those from its Fort Lewis and
McChord Air Force Base extension campuses. Also graduating will be the
first five mechanical engineering students to complete their degrees
through Saint Martin’s mechanical engineering extension program with
Olympic College.
Valedictorian Elissa K. Johnson, Spanaway, will
deliver the commencement address to fellow graduates. Both the class
valedictorian and salutatorian, Gordon Bellevue, Chehalis, are
graduating with bachelor of science degrees in biology. Johnson earned a
3.98 cumulative grade point average during her college career, and
Bellevue, a 3.97.
Johnson will speak after degrees are conferred on the
Class of 2005. Also addressing graduates and their families will be
class speaker Vicki Watilo, Lacey, who is receiving her Master of
Business Administration degree.
The Saint Martin’s College Class of 2005 is composed
of students who completed degree requirements in December 2004 and May
2005, as well as those who will do so in August. The class has 91
December graduates, 250 May graduates and 54 August graduates. Of those
graduating, 311 will receive undergraduate degrees and 84 will earn
graduate degrees.
Saint Martin's College is an independent,
coeducational college offering 22 baccalaureate and six graduate degree
programs, all with a strong liberal arts foundation. Saint Martin's was
founded in 1895 by the Roman Catholic religious Order of St. Benedict.
In the Benedictine traditions of hospitality, service and education, the
college is committed to providing excellent education to students from
diverse economic, cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds. Saint
Martin's enrolls approximately 1,000 students on its main campus and
about 600 more in programs offered at its extension campuses at Fort
Lewis Army Post, McChord Air Force Base and Olympic College.
Class OF 2005 biographies
Elissa K. Johnson - Valedictorian
Valedictorian Elissa K. Johnson of Spanaway,
Wash., is graduating with a 3.98 grade point average, earning a bachelor
of science degree in biology. A member of the college’s honor society,
the Society of Fellows, Johnson is the recipient of the 2005 Rosalind
Elsie Franklin Award, which annually honors an outstanding senior
biology student, and the 2004 Organic Chemistry Student of the Year
Award.
She is a member of Beta Beta Beta national biology
honorary and is vice president of Saint Martin’s Biology Club. For the
college’s 2005 Scholar’s Day, she was chosen as part of a team of
advanced anatomy students to discuss the medical findings of a cadaver
dissection. A 2001 graduate of Bethel High School, she was recruited as
a pitcher to the Saint Martin’s fast pitch softball team, where she
earned all-conference honors for academics and athletics. In 2004, she
spoke in Washington, D.C., on behalf of Saint Martin’s student-athletes
during a presentation of the national USA Today-NCAA Academic
Achievement Award to the College. She also is a member of the Student
Athletic Advisory Council and organized this year’s NCAA “Take a Kid to
the Game Night.”
Johnson is applying to the University of Washington
Dental School and dreams of one day opening her own dental practice. She
says she hopes to serve others by increasing access to dental care in
underserved communities.
Gordon Lawrence Bellevue - Salutatorian
Gordon Lawrence Bellevue, who also is graduating with a bachelor of
science degree in biology, has earned a 3.97 grade point average during
his college career to become 2005 salutatorian. Bellevue is the
recipient of Saint Martin’s Trustee’s Scholarship.
A U.S. Navy veteran, he retired after 28 years of
military service and now resides in Chehalis. Before transferring to
Saint Martin’s College, he earned an associate of science degree in
biology with highest honors from Centralia College. As a student there,
he was a member of Phi Theta Kappa and was awarded a Phi Theta Kappa
scholarship. At Saint Martin’s, he was tapped for membership in its
honor society, the Society of Fellows, and has been active in both the
Non-Traditional Students Club and Beta Beta Beta national biology
honorary.
He and his wife of 28 years, Susan Box Bellevue, have
three children: Nicholas, 24, who was just discharged from the U.S. Air
Force; Angelisa, 18, an elementary education major at Central Washington
University; and Joseph, 16, a junior at Chehalis’ W.F. West High School.
Bellevue is the son of C. Lee McCrite of Winlock and the late Larry
Bellevue; he is the stepson of the late John McCrite. Bellevue is a
part-time physics lab instructor for Saint Martin’s, work he plans to
continue next year. He said he hopes to eventually earn a master’s
degree and teach at the college level.
Vicki Watilo - Class Speaker
Vicki Watilo, Lacey, is graduating with a
Master of Business Administration degree. She earned her summa cum laude
bachelor’s degree in business administration with a marketing
concentration from Saint Martin’s in 2001. Watilo, who grew up in
Silverdale, Wash., started her college career later in life due to
personal hardships. She completed her undergraduate degree at 35, and
has worked in both private sector and non-profit organizations.
Her non-profit experience spans both national and
international Christian humanitarian efforts, including four years with
Turning Point Ministries International, a Texas-based organization that
helps the impoverished. In the local community, Watilo has given her
time to Bread and Roses, her homeowners association and community
outreach events for the Church of Living Water. Watilo is active in the
Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals, the Puget Sound
Business Intelligence Group and the American Marketing Association.
She is the daughter of Jerry Watilo and Sharon Horton;
the sister of Steve Watilo, Shari Honeywell and Lauri Baroni; and “the
proud aunt” of eight nieces and nephews.
Mary Law
Registrar
360-438-4356; marylaw@stmartin.edu
Deanna Partlow
Office of Communication
360-438-4541;
dpartlow@stmartin.edu