Fairfax City College Students Excel Academically, Earn Degrees

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — To shine a light on their academic achievements, Patch shares information provided by Merit News about students from the Fairfax City area who received special recognition or graduated at the end of the spring 2023 term.

Lehigh Men's Lacrosse player Richard Checo of Fairfax was awarded the J. Daniel Nolan Award. Checo also earned first-team All-Patriot League honors, was recognized as an Inside Lacrosse Midseason All-American and was named a USA Lacrosse Magazine honorable mention postseason All-American. Checo set a school record with 54 caused turnovers and leads the nation in caused turnovers per game (3.6).

Jae Hoon Jeong of Fairfax was recently initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society. Jeong was initiated at George Mason University.

Andrew Lefcourt of Fairfax was selected to present during the second annual Academic Symposium, which took place May 1 at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. Lefcourt is a junior biology major. The title of his presentation was Biology Poster Session.

The following people recently were initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines:

• Elea-Maria Abisamra of Fairfax at Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
• Helen Castle of Fairfax at Marymount University
• Dominique Cytryn of Fairfax at Marymount University
• Jacob McNeer of Fairfax at Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
• Payton Minnick of Fairfax at Longwood University
• Timothy O'Bryan Jr. of Fairfax at Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
• Bailey Redler of Fairfax at the University of Michigan
• Rachel Zindler of Fairfax at James Madison University

Twila Smith, a freshman history major from Fairfax, was among over 650 students named to the spring 2023 president's list at Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. The president's list recognizes students who earn a 3.75 or higher grade point average for the semester.

The following students are among approximately 800 students named to the dean's list for the spring 2023 semester at Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina:

• Gabriel Jacques, a senior business administration major from Fairfax
• Kendra Smith, a freshman special education major from Fairfax

The dean's list recognizes students who earn a 3.00-3.74 grade point average during the semester.

The following students achieved the dean's list at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee for the spring 2023 semester by maintaining a quality grade point average of 3.5 with no grade below a C:

• Rowan Clark of Fairfax
• Brigid Smullen of Fairfax

The following students were named to the spring 2023 dean's list at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg by earning a GPA of 3.5 or higher and complete a minimum of 30 credit hours:

• Jason Dwyer of Fairfax, majoring in political science and history
• Erik Wilkinson of Fairfax, majoring in business analytics

Grace Matson of Fairfax was named to the Belhaven University spring 2023 president's list by achieving a 4.0 grade point average while taking a full course load of at least 12 semester hours.

Marali Harikar of Fairfax was recently initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society. Harikar was initiated at Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University.

Approximately 530 students were named to the dean's list for the 2023 spring semester at Bridgewater College, which was announced by Provost and Executive Vice President Dr. Leona A. Sevick. Fairfax residents Jen Chan, a business administration major, and art major Vivian Ton were named to the dean's list, having attained a 3.4 or better grade point average out of a possible 4.0.

Darby Schmidt from Fairfax, majoring in Music, was named to the spring 2023 dean's honor list at Cedarville University in Ohio. This recognition requires the student to obtain a 3.75 GPA or higher for the semester and carry a minimum of 12 credit hours.

Abigail Ford of Fairfax was named to the spring 2023 president's list at Mississippi College. To be eligible for the president's list, a student must maintain a 4.0 grade point average, based on a 4.0 system. The student must take a full course load of at least 12 semester hours of undergraduate credit with all academic courses impacting their grade point average.