The 2018 Grove City College Senior Man and Woman of the Year awards were presented, respectively, to Graham Allen and Corrie Penraat during Thursday’s Recognition Convocation in Harbison Chapel on campus.
The awards are among the highest honors that the College bestows on students. They are presented jointly by the leadership honoraries Mortar Board and Omicron Delta Kappa. Selections are made on the basis of scholarship, leadership and service. The candidates are voted on by students and faculty.
Allen is a Mechanical Engineering major from Upper Dublin, Pa., and a son of Paul and Sandra Allen.
On campus, he is a Trustee Academic Fellow and peer mentor, captain of the Track and Field team, president of ODK and co-founder of Kingdom Week mission conference. Allen has been on the dean’s list every year he’s been at the College, worked as a student researcher in Mechanical Engineering professor Erik Anderson’s lab and helped with the e-Encourage program to inspire faculty and students. He’s also a poet and essayist who contributes to the school’s Echo and Quad journals.
After graduation, Allen said he’s getting married to the “love of his life,” fellow Mechanical Engineering major Abigail Noll ’18, and moving to New Hampshire to work for a company that makes turbines and compressors.
“I feel humbled and thankful, it was an incredible honor to be able to be a nominee with other men who God has used so instrumentally in my life – this honor is certainly ours to share and give thanks to Christ for His grace in our lives and on this campus,” Allen said.
Penraat is an International Business major with a concentration in French from San Clemente, Calif., and a daughter of Dr. Jan Penraat and Dr. Kelley Penraat.
At the College, she is involved with student government, the Law Society, Orientation Board, Okello and is a lifeguard. She served on Business Department student leadership teams and student conduct appeals board, and is a member of ODK, Mortar Board, and Delta Mu Delta honorary societies. She has earned a spot on the dean’s list with high distinction for four years. She also sings and plays guitar with worship teams and at coffee house events and has travelled internationally for school and missions work
After graduation, she’ll be working at Mercy Warehouse in Laguna Niguel, Calif., serving the community and homeless by means of food distribution, donation sorting and assisting with the thrift store while applying for internships with Samaritan’s Purse and World Vision. She plans to attend graduate school and pursue a career in international missions.
“I’m thankful, humbled, and honored to have received this award. I could not be more appreciative for my time here at Grove City College. It is the people here that have made my time here so unforgettable. God has been so faithful over the past four years bringing us through the highs and lows that accompany life’s journey. May we continue to walk in faith even when we cannot see,” Penraat said.
Other finalists for Woman of the Year were: Clare Clifton, Megan VanKirk, Abigail VanVleck and Hannah Vaccaro. Finalists for Man of the Year were: Thomas Miller, Blake Baer, David Shang and Brian Schonewald.
The names of the award winners are recorded for posterity on a memorial plaque on a boulder outside Harbison Chapel. Former recipients of this prestigious honor have gone on to become leaders in faith, education, business, law, health care and other fields.