SOUTH ORANGE — Seton Hall University welcomed its baccalaureate class as the newest group of alumni on May 21, including eight scholars from the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Program.
Reverend Forrest Pritchett, director of the program, said, “We create an environment where students can deliver quality programming on campus, as well as design programs for elementary and middle school populations that motivate, give vision and agency to the children’s futures. We are pleased that we are producing MLK Scholar graduates that conform to this and other statements of Dr. King’s on education. We build hope by developing critical analysis of current rhetoric and we build new paradigms for progress. As Rev. Dr. King stated, ‘To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief aims of education.’ ”The MLK Leadership Program was established in 1970, and is the oldest and most prestigious servant leadership program at Seton Hall University, as well as one of the earliest programs of its kind in the United States. It provides participants with tuition scholarships, leadership and management skills, and opportunities for community service and research involving values and social justice. They also participate in the Martin Luther King Scholarship Association (MLKSA), an award-winning honor society on campus.
Students selected for this program currently maintain a GPA average of 3.5, and work to embody Seton Hall’s mission of service and leadership in their everyday lives.
Parsippany resident Maria Mangru graduated with a B.S. from the College of Arts and Sciences, majoring in Biology, Cum Laude, and will continue in the dual degree 3+3 program to receive a D.P.T. in Physical Therapy through the School of Health and Medical Sciences. She is a 2014 Graduate of Parsippany Hills High School.
Her Organizational Involvements included: MLKSA (2014-2018); Member of Biology Society (2014-2017); Member of American Chemical Society (2016-2017) and Organization of Physical Therapy Students (2017-2020).
She belonged to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Scholarship Association: Class Representative 2014-2015; Secretary 2015-2016; President 2016-2017 and Class Representative 2017-2018.
Her Organization of Physical Therapy Students included Class Representative Summer and Fall 2017; Recording Secretary Fall 2017-Spring 2018 and President Summer 2018 – Spring 2019.
Seton Hall Leadership Fellows Program 2017-2018
Volunteer Achievements: Completed 162.5 hours from Freshman to Junior year. She currently has completed 100 hours.
During her senior year, she received the Bronze Presidential Service Award for completing a total of 108 hours in an academic year.
Maria’s Awards/Honorary Societies include: Dean’s List: Fall 2014, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017; MLKSA Scholar of the Year Award: 2014-2015 and 2015-2016; 2017 Seton Hall Student Leadership Awards: Community Impact Award.
2018 Seton Hall Student Leadership Awards: Leadership Fellows Program Honors: Cum Laude.
During the Summer of 2014 she had an Internship at SportsCare Physical Therapy. After completing the internship, she was hired as a part time physical therapist aide. She has worked there every semester since freshman year. Senior year, and was recognized in Seton Hall Leadership Fellows Program.
Her great work as an MLK Scholar has been working on the executive board from 2015-2017. During that time on the executive board, she was able to plan two educational scholar trips, which she is very proud of. During the Spring of 2016, she was able to take scholars and students to Boston, Massachusetts. During this trip, they visited the African American History Museum. During Spring 2017, and were able to expand our travels to Washington D.C. where they were able to take two buses full of scholars, faculty, alumni, students, and family members. During this trip, they visited the newest Smithsonian venue, the National Museum of African American History and Culture as well as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Monument. Planning these trips was not easy but she is glad that the hard work payed off. She hopes these two trips will inspire the organization to continue to plan educational spring trips, which can eventually be expanded.
Maria’s post-graduation plan is to continue in the Doctor of Physical Therapy graduate program at Seton Hall University. Her future plans involve working in an outpatient setting and eventually branching off into the private practice setting. She also wants to become a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and an Orthopedic Clinical Specialist (OCS).
One of the country’s leading Catholic universities, Seton Hall has been developing students in mind, heart and spirit since 1856. Home to nearly 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students and offering more than 90 rigorous academic programs, Seton Hall’s academic excellence has been singled out for distinction by The Princeton Review, U.S. News & World Report and Bloomberg Businessweek.
Seton Hall embraces students of all religions and prepares them to be exemplary servant leaders and global citizens. In recent years, the University has achieved extraordinary success. Since 2009, it has seen record-breaking undergraduate enrollment growth and an impressive 93-point increase in the average SAT scores of incoming freshmen. In the past decade, Seton Hall students and alumni have received 24 Fulbright Scholarships as well as other prestigious academic honors, including Boren Awards, Pickering Fellowships, Udall Scholarships and a Rhodes Scholarship. In the past five years, the University has invested more than $150 million in new campus buildings and renovations. And in 2015, Seton Hall launched a School of Medicine as well as a College of Communication and the Arts. A founding member of the Big East Conference, the Seton Hall Pirates field 14 NCAA Division I varsity sports teams.
The University’s beautiful main campus is located in suburban South Orange, New Jersey, and is only 14 miles from New York City — offering students a wealth of employment, internship, cultural and entertainment opportunities. Seton Hall’s nationally recognized School of Law is prominently located in downtown Newark. The University’s new Interprofessional Health Sciences (IHS) campus in Clifton and Nutley, N.J. will open in the summer of 2018. The IHS campus will house Seton Hall’s College of Nursing and School of Health and Medical Sciences as well as the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University.
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