Commencement Fairleigh Dickinson University

Sheryl Antoinette Gauntlett
Student Pinnacle Award
Metropolitan Campus
From the beginning of her freshman year, Sheryl
Gauntlett was on a mission to become involved in campus
life. She succeeded, to put it mildly — winning
elections and volunteering for leadership posts in a
variety of student organizations. A communications
major enrolled in the five-year accelerated program in
media and professional communication, Gauntlett has
completed her bachelor’s degree and will receive her
master’s degree in media and professional communication
next year.
In her first weeks on the Metropolitan Campus, she
attended nearly every activity hosted by student life.
She quickly demonstrated her leadership skills and was
elected secretary of the Inspirational Gospel Ensemble
(IGE) and treasurer of Black Men’s Alliance in her
sophomore year. She recently served as president of
IGE, student body liaison for the Communication
Honor Society and parliamentarian and public relations
chair of the Student Government Association.
High academic standards and a strong work ethic
resulted in her recognition as a Col. Fairleigh S. Dickinson
Scholar, Charter Day Scholar and member of
two University honor societies and Lambda Pi Eta, the
official communication studies honor society of the
National Communication Association. Gauntlett’s name
has appeared on the Dean’s List every semester of her
undergraduate career.
Her study-abroad experiences, through the Global
Scholars program, have included trips to the Dominican
Republic, Cyprus and Belize. During her junior
year, Gauntlett spent a semester at FDU’s Wroxton
College in England. In addition to enjoying the rigorous
academic experience at Wroxton, she traveled to
France, Spain, Italy, Scotland and Wales.
A member of the University Honors Program, she
presented her senior honors thesis, “Communicating
Effectively with Body Language,” at Research Day in
April. Gauntlett, a resident of Tyngsboro, Mass., also
attended three National Collegiate Honors Council
Conferences and presented papers in Providence, R.I.;
Annapolis, Md.; and Morristown, N.J.
6
David Storicks
Student Pinnacle Award
College at Florham
In his time at Fairleigh Dickinson, David Storicks took
maximum advantage of a wide array of educational and
extracurricular opportunities on campus — student
government, study abroad, theater, academics and student
journalism — and excelled at every one.
Despite being severely injured in a motorcycle accident
one year ago, he has completed an accelerated five-year
program leading to a master’s degree in teaching.
Storicks, who has a bachelor’s degree in theater arts
with a minor in history, was cast in nine FDU theater
program productions, taking a lead role in five of
them, including the hit musical “The Rocky Horror
Picture Show”; most recently, he played the role of
Sky Masterson in “Guys and Dolls.”
He served as president of the Student Government
Association and studied abroad at FDU’s Wroxton College
in England, while student-teaching at the Wroxton
village elementary school. In addition, Storicks was a
resident assistant, vice president of student affairs for
the Resident Student Association and a writer for The
Metro student newspaper.
The Dean of Students Office presented the 2008
Burden Award for Meritorious Achievement to Storicks,
who was also a Charter Day Scholar and a Col. Fairleigh
S. Dickinson Scholar. As an undergraduate, he
regularly made the Dean’s List and was named to Who’s
Who Among Students in American Universities and
Colleges.
Storicks, a resident of Dumont, N.J., found time to
give back to the community, serving as assistant coach
of the Dumont High School forensics team and director
of Neil Simon’s “Rumors” for Summertime Players,
a program for high school students in Park Ridge, N.J.
He has volunteered his time to the University community
by serving on several committees, including the
2007 Strategic Planning Committee, the Recruitment
and Retention Committee, Campus Council and the
50th Anniversary of the College at Florham Committee,
among others.