May 14, 1999

Commencement top award winners

Loyola presented Monique Gougisha of Upper Malboro, Maryland, with the university’s John G. Arnold, Cardinal Key Award, and Joseph P. Schott of Lafayette with the Charles H. Bailey Alpha Delta Gamma Award during its 87th annual commencement ceremony at the Morris F.X. Jeff, Sr., Municipal Auditorium on Sunday, May 16. More than 700 students received undergraduate and graduate degrees from the university during the ceremony.

Gougisha, who received her bachelor of arts in political science, graduated with the distinction of cum laude. She plans to attend Tulane University School of Law in the fall and eventually she would like to be a force in education reform.

During her years at Loyola, Gougisha maintained an impressive grade point average while participating in numerous campus programs. Likewise, she has given unselfishly of her time to help less advantaged members of the New Orleans community. While at Loyola, she has served as the president of the Loyola University Sociology Student Organization (LUSSO) and a resident assistant as well as the fund-raising chair of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She received the Outstanding Activism Award and is a member of the Pi Sigma Alpha Political Science Honor Society.

Outside of Loyola, Gougisha was a tutor at Lawrence Crocker Elementary School where she helped fifth grade students with math in preparation of the state-issued examination. She also served as a tutor at the Redemptorist Community Center and Banks Elementary School. For a year, Gougisha was a statewide hotline volunteer for the NO AIDS Task Force.

Schott, who also graduated with the distinction of cum laude, received a bachelor of arts in communications with a minor in political science. He has been selected twice as Outstanding Communications Studies Student. As a reflection of the trust students have in Schott, he was chosen as the student observer to the Loyola University Board of Trustees and a student representative on the Academic and Faculty Affairs Committee of the board. Also, he has served on the Architectural Selection Advisory Committee, Student Affairs Policy Advisory Committee, and Boys Hope Booster Club. Boys Hope provides housing, food, and education to underprivileged orphaned males.

Since 1996, Schott has served as resident assistant. He says one of his greatest accomplishments at Loyola took place his sophomore year when, as resident assistant to freshmen in Biever Hall, 38 of 40 residents returned to Loyola, an unprecedented retention rate.

Schott has worked hard to secure such impressive internships as a year in the New Orleans Saints media relations office and office manager of the award-winning Loyola student newspaper, The Maroon.