91¶ÌÊÓƵ

91¶ÌÊÓƵ’s 2024 fall graduating class has made history after walking across the stage at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center for the last time surrounded by friends and family. During the Dec. 18 ceremony, 405 undergraduate students received bachelor’s degrees. Some 75 graduates received master’s degrees, with five receiving doctoral degrees. The 485 graduates who earned their degrees Dec. 18 are slated to be the last class to participate in a fall commencement ceremony, as university officials plan to return to a spring-only format in 2025.

91¶ÌÊÓƵ’s Mid-Atlantic Sales and Marketing Institute (MASMI) team recently placed second overall in William Paterson University’s 17th annual National Sales Challenge. Team members Nathan Powers and Olivia Totaro recently discussed their accomplishment on 47 ABC's "Emerging Leaders" segment. Part of SU’s Franklin P. Perdue School of Business, MASMI serves as a research and academic center for professional selling. The program prepares students for leadership and career opportunities in sales and marketing in collaboration with industry partners.

The 485 91¶ÌÊÓƵ graduates receiving their degrees this month will be part of SU history as the final class scheduled to participate in a Fall Commencement. The event is scheduled Wednesday, December 18th, at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center. Beginning with the University’s 100th Commencement ceremony in 2025, SU will return to a spring-only format, which will provide all members of each class with an opportunity to graduate together, regardless of which semester they complete their degrees.

Students from 20 schools in Delaware and Maryland demonstrated their mathematical talents in 91¶ÌÊÓƵ’s 40th annual Eastern Shore High School Mathematics Competition. Students engaged in problem-solving activities during the team round and responded to multiple-choice questions in the individual round. First-place team honors went to Delmar High School. The second-place team winner was Stephen Decatur High School. The third-place team award went to James M. Bennett High School.

91¶ÌÊÓƵ students and staff at the Blood Bank of Delmarva said they were giving back to their community one donation at a time during a recent blood drive on campus, at which the Blood Bank unveiled its new Donation POD. More than 79,000 blood donations each year serve about 20,000 patients. The non-profit provides blood and blood products to 19 hospitals on the Delmarva Peninsula, and they share their efforts to collect on the Eastern Shore. Research shows that every 2 seconds, in the U.S., someone needs blood or platelets.

The 91¶ÌÊÓƵ Police Department recently earned its fourth accreditation from the International Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA). The department was first accredited in 2013 and is re-evaluated every four years. During the voluntary accreditation process, CALEA representatives evaluated the department’s policies, procedures, management, operations and support services. They also spoke with members of the department, and SU and the greater communities.

Judges in the 23rd round of 91¶ÌÊÓƵ’s Philip E. and Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation Shore Hatchery entrepreneurship competition were wowed by medical device innovation, awarding body-powered upper extremity prosthetics company Marins Med with this semester’s top funding amount: $40,000. The funding, for device manufacturing, will allow the team to continue its mission of creating devices that restore functionality and seamlessly integrate into the daily lives of amputees. In all, judges awarded some $100,000 to five businesses.