Baccalaureate: A Celebration of the Class of 2021

Traditionally held on the morning of the annual Commencement exercises, Baccalaureate is a celebration of our graduates’ time at Lafayette.

This year’s virtual event features inspiring speeches, songs, and a student-produced music video. Chaplain Alex Hendrickson, President Byerly, and more than a dozen student performances (including Pepper Prize winner Basit Balogun ’21) will remind you why the Class of 2021 is so special.

Graduating seniors participating in Baccalaureate include:

Basit Balogun ’21, from Lagos, Nigeria, is receiving his B.S. in computer science. He will be joining Goldman Sachs as an engineering analyst on their electronic trading team.

Scott Kamen ’21, from Forest Hills, Queens, N.Y., is receiving his B.A. in engineering and a self-design major in technology and law. He plans to attend law school in the future.

Lulu Kirtchuk ’21, from Brooklyn, N.Y., is receiving her B.A. in international affairs with a minor in Spanish. She will be pursuing a career in business and human rights law in New York City.

Erik Carl Larson ’21, from West Milford, N.J., is receiving his B.S. in neuroscience and a minor in music. He will be working for a year before heading to graduate school.

Morgan Hephzibah Limmer ’21, from Bloomington, Minn., is receiving her B.A. in history and international affairs. She will be attending Union Theological Seminary in New York City to pursue her masters of divinity degree.

Kimberly Mae Manalang ’21, from Washington D.C., is receiving her B.S. in biology. She will be focusing on cancer research at the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of Alabama Birmingham for two years before pursuing an M.D./Ph.D.

Umamah Masum ’21, from Staten Island, N.Y., is receiving her B.A. in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies with a minor in government and law. She will be working as the community outreach coordinator for Ranti Ogunleye’s New York City council campaign.

Keon Modeste ’21, from New York City, is receiving his B.A in organizational studies. He will be working at IBM as an associate business analyst.

Melissa K. Niles ’21, from Brooklyn, N.Y., is receiving her B.A. in government and law with a minor in women’s, gender, and sexualities studies. She will be attending Northeastern University to pursue a law degree.

Lauren Phillips-Jackson ’21, from Amherst, Mass., is receiving her B.A. in anthropology and sociology. She will work as a policy associate for environmental policy and good governance at Frontier Group in Boston.

Victoria Puglia ’21 is a Spanish-American who grew up in Spain and The Netherlands. A Marquis Scholar at Lafayette College, Victoria is receiving her B.A. in international affairs with a thematic concentration on conflict and cooperation, development studies, and global environmental studies, and a regional focus on sub-Saharan Africa. Upon graduation, she will be pursuing a MPhil in international relations at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.

Joelle Rabin-Court ’21, from Queens, N.Y., is receiving her B.S. in biology. She will be taking a gap year to gain clinical experience before applying to medical school.

Katie Rice ’21, from Broomall, Pa., is receiving a B.S. in mechanical engineering and a B.A. in music. She intends to continue pursuing both of her passions with an engineering career and a graduate degree in conducting.

Caroline Crist Sabin ’21, from West Windsor, N.J., is receiving her B.A. in music and anthropology and sociology. She will be attending Carnegie Mellon University in the fall to pursue her M.S. in public policy and management.

Alexis Steffaro ’21, from South River, N.J. is receiving her B.A. in international affairs and Russian Eastern European studies. She will be attending Nottingham University to pursue an M.A. in international security and terrorism.

Other participants in the Baccalaureate service include:

Jordan Lieber ’22 

Quintin Sefton ’22

Anna Zittle ‘22

Will Shelton ’23