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This year's Furman Fellows are (from left to right) Lindsay Harroff,
Susan Bitetti, Michael Sauer, Brandon Tensley and Cortney McEniry.
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GREENVILLE, S.C.—Five members of Furman University’s senior class have been named Furman Fellows for the 2011-12 academic year.
The Fellows, which were officially announced at the university’s fall convocation on Sept. 1, are Susan Bitetti of Norwell, Mass., Lindsay Harroff of Concord, N.C., Cortney McEniry of Anderson, S.C., Michael Sauer of Richmond, Va., and Brandon Tensley of Columbia, S.C.
The fellowships are awarded annually to five members of the senior class who’ve shown unique leadership skills and an ability to make a difference in the world and in the lives of others. Students are nominated for the fellowships by faculty and staff. A committee meets over the summer to make the selections.
The awards are made possible through the generosity of Bob Buckman, a Furman trustee, and his wife, Joyce Mollerup.
Here is biographical information about this year’s Furman Fellows:
SUSAN BITETTI is a physics major from Norwell, Mass. She founded Furman’s first science publication by students, The Spectrum, and is also a contributor to The Paladin, the weekly student newspaper. She is captain of the women’s tennis team and a leader of the Athletic Student Board. Through the Athletic Student Board she started a pen pal program with a local middle school, connecting Furman athletes with students who are from troubled backgrounds or who suffer with disabilities. She has also worked with the Special Olympics, Relay for Life and other service projects. A member of Sigma Phi Sigma and the National Physics Honor Society, she spent last spring studying in Guatemala.
LINDSAY HARROFF of Concord, N.C., is majoring in political science and communication studies. She has worked with such groups as Habitat for Humanity, Nourish International and Reading is Fundamental, and she has helped raise funds for pediatric cancer research and juvenile diabetes. She is a member of Phi Eta Sigma and Omicron Delta Kappa Eta, and has served as president of the Debate Society, the equestrian team and Lambda Pi Eta. She also provides entertainment at local nursing homes and adult care facilities by performing on Celtic harp. She was an intern last spring in the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, and she spent this summer at the University of North Texas as a National Science Foundation research assistant.
CORTNEY McENIRY is a theatre arts major from Anderson, S.C., who is pursuing a concentration in poverty studies. She hopes to apply her theatre studies to enrich poverty-stricken communities. She has spent recent summers interning with the Barrington Stage Company in Massachusetts and with the Synchronicity Theatre Company in Atlanta. Through Synchronicity’s program called Playmaking for Girls, she worked with young women from abusive family situations and impoverished environments. She is also a member of Furman’s student government, president of the Order of Furman Theatre, and an assistant in the costume shop.
MICHAEL SAUER is from Richmond, Va. He is majoring in business administration. He is a dedicated volunteer who is a local leader for Young Life, through which he mentors high school students. He has also worked with the United Way and Habitat for Humanity. He spent the 2011 spring break in Biloxi, Mississippi, helping to rebuild a house damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Michael also plays in a band, and his group has hosted benefit concerts to raise money for a children’s orphanage in Africa and to support Japanese earthquake relief efforts.
BRANDON TENSLEY is a political science and German major from Columbia, S.C. He established a program called Men of Distinction at a local middle school, where male students learn about academic achievement, integrity and leadership from Furman men who have volunteered as role models. Brandon also works with the L.E.G.A.C.I.E.S. program sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs. He is president of Furman’s Model United Nations program and hopes to attend law school.
For more information, contact Furman’s News and Media Relations office at 864-294-3107.