University of Michigan-Dearborn recognized five students as Chancellor’s Medallion recipients and two student speakers during Saturday’s commencement ceremonies.
Morning Speaker
Fatima Abdallah earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a major in finance and a minor in political science. Abdallah is a recipient of the Michigan Competitive Scholarship, the UM-Dearborn Alumni Legacy Scholarship and other private scholarships. She made the Dean’s List every semester since fall 2014 and earned University Honors in fall 2014.
Abdallah began her undergraduate career at the age of 15, taking courses at UM-Dearborn while still enrolled in high school. Before her official freshman year even began, she was already attending Student Government meetings, volunteered with the Arab Student Union and attended seminars and rallies in pursuit of social justice.
During the summer of 2016, she took advantage of the opportunity to gain valuable experience while completing an internship arranged through the Political Science Department with the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., in the Office of Civil Rights.
This past summer, Abdallah also interned with Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, where she worked directly with constituents in Michigan’s 12th District and addressed issues that included veteran affairs and immigration assistance.
An active member of the campus community, Abdallah was a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success, served as president of the Golden Key International Honour Society, director of community relations for the Arab Student Union, and a senator for Student Government. She also is a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society.
In the near future, Abdallah plans on combining both her passion for civil rights and social justice with corporate law to enact social change in the corporate world. Her long-term goal is to return to a university setting as a professor to influence young people to be interested in ideas and to be curious about the world around them.
Afternoon Speaker
College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters Chancellor’s Medallion Recipient
Bryce Michelle Weick graduated with High Distinction with a degree in international and Hispanic studies with concentrations in Spanish and communications.
Since her arrival at UM-Dearborn, Weick has embraced every opportunity to contribute and to learn, in the process collecting the William J. Branstrom Freshman Prize (2014), Dean's List honors every term, the Spanish Honors Award every term and the International Studies Spanish Student of the Year Award (2017). She also was recently awarded the (M)Talent, the highest level of achievement in the Talent Gateway. She is the recipient of the Michigan Competitive Scholarship, the International Studies Essay Scholarship, the Sam Zehra Scholarship and other private scholarships.
Weick has been a leader in the Spanish Club (La Mezcla), in the study abroad program, and in the classroom, where professors note that her intellectual curiosity is contagious. She also has made significant contributions to the wider campus community, serving as orientation leader, talent ambassador and Wolverine Orientation Wilderness (WOW) counselor. This fall, she helped organize the 2nd Annual Midwest College Campuses Food Pantry Summit, hosted by UM-Dearborn’s College and University Pantries (CUP) research team.
“Bryce takes on graduate-level projects and challenges,” one professor wrote, including one project he describes as “an amazing philosophical and metaphysical essay.”
Weick plans to pursue graduate work in public administration.
College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters Chancellor’s Medallion Recipient
Sumer Ghazala graduates with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and economics. She also graduates from the UM-Dearborn Honors Program. Ms. Ghazala attained a perfect 4.0 grade point average. Her many academic honors include making the Dean’s List every semester, earning University Honors every year, and being named a Political Science Honors Scholar and a James B. Angell Scholar.
Ghazala’s many scholarships include the Helen Mataya Graves Political Science Scholarship, the John Dempsey Scholarship, the Honors Program Scholarship, the CASL Alumni Affiliate Scholarship, the Slosberg and Sorscher Memorial Scholarship, the Richard Reynolds Memorial Scholarship and the Michigan Competitive Scholarship.
She was selected as a Trials Scholar and also won the Outstanding Delegate Award in two categories at the Michigan Model Arab League competition in 2016. She held internships at the Michigan Department of Attorney General, Wayne County Third Circuit Court, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, MAHLE Behr USA Inc., and Space Exploration Technologies. She is founder and president of the UM-Dearborn Pre-Law Association as well as the Birmingham Tutoring Group. Ghazala also has served as vice president of the Food Recovery Network and business lead of the Formula Society of Automotive Engineers (Combustion). She recently returned from exercising her entrepreneurial spirit and skills at Space Exploration Technologies for the second time. Ghazala has also served as a volunteer at the Cranbrook Institute of Science and the Baldwin Center during her time in college.
She was named a 2017 UM-Dearborn Difference Maker. Nominated by faculty and staff, Difference Maker recipients are recognized for academic achievement, integrity, leadership, and creative contribution in and out of the classroom.
Ghazala plans to attend law school and pursue a career in law, with a focus on the areas of public interest and social entrepreneurship.
College of Business Chancellor’s Medallion Recipient
William Allen received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a major in accounting & finance. Having earned a GPA of 3.97, he graduates with High Distinction. Allen was on the Dean’s List every fall and winter term, received University Honors six times and was named a James B. Angell Scholar twice.
He is the recipient of numerous scholarships, including the Richard E. Czarnecki Endowed Scholarship, the Terry and Debbie McElroy Scholarship, the EY-Hillary Q. Kind Memorial Scholarship, the Wade McCree Scholarship, the General Merit Scholarship, the UM-Dearborn Writing Scholarship, the Michigan Competitive Scholarship, the Detroit Finnish Summer Camp Cooperative Scholarship and the Michigan Accountancy Foundation 5th Year Scholarship.
During his time at UM-Dearborn, Allen was an involved member of the campus community. In his sophomore year, he participated in Alternative Spring Break in Cleveland, which motivated him to continue volunteer efforts in the metro Detroit area. He began to volunteer with the Environmental Interpretive Center on campus and participated in the Accounting Aid Society’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program. Mr. Allen said that, “Giving back is a rewarding experience that I will continue to do in various ways as I grow older.”
Allen served as vice president of the Kappa Sigma chapter of Beta Alpha Psi for one semester and president for two semesters. He attained three internships—at Plante Moran, Deloitte, and Ernst & Young—in which he was able to apply what was learned through involvement in the chapter and in the classroom.
He was named a 2017 UM-Dearborn Difference Maker. Nominated by faculty and staff, Difference Maker recipients are recognized for academic achievement, integrity, leadership, and creative contribution in and out of the classroom.
Allen will begin a full-time position at Ernst & Young as a risk advisory consultant in the fall. Until then, he plans to complete the CPA requirements and hopes to travel.
College of Engineering and Computer Science Chancellor’s Medallion Recipient
Rodolfo Lozano received a Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree in electrical engineering, graduating with High Distinction. He was awarded University Honors in 2016 and 2017, and was named to the Dean’s List five times. He is a recipient of the William and Alice Jenkins Scholarship, the CASL Pi Omicron Philanthropic Scholarship, the UM-Dearborn Veterans Scholarship, and the Slosberg and Sorscher Memorial Scholarship.
Lozano is a member of Tau Beta Pi, the Engineering Honor Society, as well as the Electronic Communications Club and the Student Veterans Association.
He served honorably in the U.S. Marine Corps for eight years before attending UM-Dearborn, having earned multiple commendations for his service. He plays an active leadership role with veteran students on campus, helping them navigate campus resources, offering support and strengthening the campus veteran student community.
Lozano has worked as an electrical engineering intern at DTE Energy since 2015, gaining professional experience in power transmission system planning software (PSSE) modeling, circuit analysis, circuit preparation and data quality management.
He was named a 2017 UM-Dearborn Difference Maker. Nominated by faculty and staff, Difference Maker recipients are recognized for academic achievement, integrity, leadership, and creative contribution in and out of the classroom.
In January, Lozano will begin work as an associate engineer at ITC Transmission in Novi.
College of Education, Health, and Human Services Chancellor’s Medallion Recipient
Kelsey Griffin is a dual-degree student in health policy studies and women’s and gender studies, with a specialization in health behavior and health education. In addition, she is graduating from the UM-Dearborn Honors Program. She has been on the Dean’s List for five terms, and her academic honors include being named the Health Policy Studies Honors Scholar and a James B. Angell Scholar in 2017. She is a recipient of the Maize & Blue Scholarship and the Michigan Competitive Scholarship.
Griffin is the founder and former president of UM-Dearborn’s Food Recovery Network chapter, which she established in an effort to reduce campus food waste and feed community members in need. To date, the chapter has recovered and donated over 1,400 pounds of excess food. As of winter 2017, all food recovered has been donated to the UM-Dearborn Student Food Pantry, where it directly benefits members of our campus community.
She also has served as the volunteer coordinator for the Pre-Professional Health Society. In 2016, she co-founded the Society for Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights, where she served as vice president and was later elected president. Over the past year, Griffin has been an active member of UM-Dearborn’s Women in Learning and Leadership program. As a result of her involvement as a student leader, she was awarded the Emerging Leader Certificate, the Service Learning Certificate and the Leadership Synergy Award from the Office of Student Engagement.
In 2015, Griffin traveled to Haiti with the George Stines Foundation, where she assisted clinicians in dental care and provided instruction on dental hygiene to rural communities. She was the first UM-Dearborn student to be accepted into the University of Michigan Detroit Community Based Research Program, where she interned with FoodLab Detroit as a community-based research assistant. She has worked with Assistant Professor Carmel Price as an undergraduate research assistant to explore how food pantry and community garden models intersect to address food insecurity.
Griffin was named a 2015 UM-Dearborn Difference Maker. Nominated by faculty and staff, Difference Maker recipients are recognized for academic achievement, integrity, leadership, and creative contribution in and out of the classroom.
After graduation, Griffin plans to pursue a Master of Public Health degree in health policy and management; she hopes to focus on health equity and environmental justice by working with community-based programs and influencing public policy.
