Lemont Lewis Grad Receives Father Aquinas Colgan Award

LEMONT, IL — Christian Mietus of Lemont was honored with the Father Aquinas Colgan Award during Lewis University’s Afternoon Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony on Dec. 17 on its Romeoville Campus, according to a release from the university.

The Father Aquinas Colgan Award is presented to a graduating senior at each of the university’s undergraduate commencement ceremonies held in May and December, the university said. It is the oldest recognition in the university's 90-year history.

Mietus earned a bachelor’s degree in English Studies with minors in Film Studies and Russian Language and Culture. The two-time Lewis University Celebration of Scholarship award winner expressed gratitude for his professors at Lewis University.

"I knew I would be an English major the minute I walked into Lewis, but I did not think I would enter a brilliant community of professors and peers who would make me rethink my approach to life as well as film and literature," Mietus said in a release.

The Jet Fuel Review editor also appreciated his extracurricular experiences while studying at Lewis University. The multiple award-winning editor said, “During my time at Lewis, I learned about perseverance, compassion, a rich love of humanity and the humanities, and (most important of all) critical thinking.”

Students are nominated for the Father Aquinas Colgan Award by university faculty and staff. To be eligible for nomination, a student must be an undergraduate who has qualified for graduation, who is a four-year student of Lewis University with a minimum GPA of 3.0, and who has demonstrated exemplary personal, intellectual and social development in the spirit of Lewis University’s Mission, according to the university.