Peru student wins IVCC’s Matthiessen Award

Sophomore Hope Beelman, of Peru, won the prestigious Frederick W. Matthiessen Award at Illinois Valley Community College’s 56th annual commencement Saturday.

“Our winner has excelled academically and has been involved in a number of leadership roles on campus and in the community,” said Vice President for Academic Affairs Gary Roberts, announcing the award.

Beelman earned a 3.9 GPA, was editor of the student newspaper, the IV Leader, was a member of the social media marketing team “Hype Crew” and worked in financial aid. Last fall, she was a finalist for the IVCC Foundation’s 21st Century Scholars Society award.

IVCC journalism instructor and IV Leader advisor Lori Cinotte nominated Beelman for the Matthiessen.

“Despite working with a very small staff, Hope and her team led the IV Leader to second place in General Excellence at the Illinois Community College Journalism Association Conference this year,” Cinotte said.

“We continue to do well because of students like Hope who are dedicated and passionate about what they do.”

IVCC established the Matthiessen Award in 1978 to recognize graduates who demonstrate high scholarship and volunteer service in the college and community. It has been awarded 29 times in 44 years.

Matthiessen winners are: Cynthia Liebhart, 1978; Michelle Mueller, 1979; Sheila Lyons, 1980; Mary Jo Menendez, 1982; Paulette Nesbitt, 1987; Donna Joerger, 1988; Melissa Leone, 1992; Joseph Ablett, 1993; Cathy Thorsen, 1995; Scott Forrest, 1995; Nancy Kochis, 1997; Beth Whittington, 1999; Elizabeth Zelenski, 2000; Kristin Abrahams, 2004; Megan Guilfoyle, 2007; Michelle Franklin, 2008; Cassie Fuller, 2009; Tyler Swanlund, 2010; Caitlin Rinker, 2011; Kristopher Sienza, 2011; Jackie Heim, 2012; Ashley Williams, 2015; Matthew Phillips, 2016; Trevor Finnan, 2017; Martha Hoffman, 2018; Lillian Rodrigues, 2019; Devanshi Patel, 2020; Grace McCormick, 2021; and Beelman, 2022.