MARQUETTE — The Northern Michigan University Board of Trustees presented its annual Student Achievement Awards just before the April 30 commencement at the Superior Dome, honoring four individuals for their significant contributions to the quality of life at NMU through extracurricular activities or work in a university department, and one for making a significant commitment to online education through NMU’s Global Campus program.

Recipients were Jakob Lippert of Green Bay, Wisconsin Outstanding Graduating Senior; Valeta Gage of Sault Ste. Marie, Outstanding Graduating Senior; Veronica Line of South Range, Wisconsin, Outstanding Student of Any Class; Matthew Goss, originally from Rising Sun, Maryland, Outstanding Nontraditional Student; and Claudia Chavez-Rhoades of Marquette, Outstanding Global Campus student.

Here is the background on the honorees.

Jakob Lippert

He also won the Library and Archives Research Award for a paper on the Associated Press and Nazi Germany. Lippert graduated with full honors, earning a bachelor’s degree in history and a minor in German studies.

Lippert participated in the Freshman Fellows undergraduate research program and worked with history professor Robert Goodrich to develop a role-playing game about the German Weimar Republic. As a member of the NMU Honors Program, he wrote an article on gender dynamics in German cinema after World War II for his summer research scholarship project.

He finished as the career scoring leader in the NMU Quiz Bowl team among all NMU players since the team’s founding in 2009. In April 2021, at the Intercollegiate Championship Tournament,he finished second in individual scoring among 128 players. His NMU team defeated squads from Harvard, Amherst, Tufts and other universities en route to a 15th place finish among 31 teams. Lippert averaged 66 points per game for the tourney.

“That is roughly the equivalent of scoring about 33 points per game in basketball,” NMU Quiz Bowl adviser Michael Joy said after the tournament. “Jakob proved that he is one of the best quiz bowl players in the country.”

Lippert was a member of Mortar Board honor society and worked as a writing teaching assistant in the history department. He also completed the nationally recognized NMU Student Leader Fellowship program, which requires a community service internship. Lippert worked with the Noquemanon Trail Network to build a new bike trail system in Powell Township.

Throughout his time at NMU, Lippert also completed all four edges of the Superior Edge Program. He worked as the Superior Edge/Volunteer Center coordinator and as the leadership programs coordinator in the Center for Student Enrichment. He also has received a Fulbright grant to serve as an English teaching assistant in Germany.

Valeta Sage

Sage earned the Outstanding Academic and Clinical Excellence award in the Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences Department. Gage graduated summa cum laude April 30 with a major in speech, language and hearing sciences and a minor in business administration.

As soon as she arrived at NMU, Gage got involved in Marquette Ending Hunger and became the organization’s president. She also joined the NMU chapter of the National Student Speech Language & Hearing Association and served as its vice president and president.

Gage was a resident adviser for NMU Housing for two years, and a member of the orientation staff for one summer. She participated on the NMU club crew team for two seasons. She was also actively involved in the Wesley Campus Ministry, serving as a peer leader, going on three service trips, and helping to run a free coffee shop and food pantry for all college students.

Gage completed all four edges of the Superior Edge program and was an active member in the Student Leader Fellowship Program, doing her community service internship as a leader of the Marquette 4-H Adventure Club. She served as a Superior Edge/Volunteer Center coordinator in the Center for Student Enrichment.

Gage will pursue a master’s degree in communication sciences and disorders after graduation.

Veronica Line

Line began her NMU journey in fall 2017 as a Harden Scholar, earning a full ride that covered tuition, fees, and room and board. She graduated with full honors, earning a bachelor’s degree in biology with a concentration in physiology and minor in Spanish.

As part of NMU’s Freshman Fellowship program, Line conducted research at the Upper Michigan Brain Tumor Center on campus under the supervision of assistant professor Amber LaCrosse. Her research resulted in a poster presentation titled “Detection of Axl in Exosomes and Microvesicles Released from Glioblastoma Multiforme Cells.” She continued as a student member at the UMBTC throughout her academic career.

Line also completed an Honors Program summer research fellowship under professor Paul Mann that will be published under the title “Rapid Extraction Free Detection of the R132H IDH1 Mutation in Glioma using Colorimetric Peptide Nucleic Acid Look Mediated Isothermal Amplification.”

Other activities Line participated in during her time at Northern included the Quiz Bowl team, Pre-medical Club, Mind Your Health student organization, Best Buddies, the Diversity Student Alliance and Mortar Board honor society. She was also an Honors Program student ambassador and an NMU student ambassador, and served as a biology and chemistry tutor at the All Campus Tutoring Center.

Matthew Goss

Goss graduated with a bachelor’s degree in construction management, after previously earning an associate degree in building technology.

Within the construction management program, Goss was a teaching assistant and worked on initiatives to advertise and promote the program to veterans. He had an on-campus job as a student employee with NMU Telecommunications for three years.

Goss has also been active in local politics, serving as executive chair of the Michigan 109th District GOP for two years, as well as the chair of the Marquette County GOP for two years.

Originally from Rising Sun, Maryland, Goss arrived at Northern after serving in the U.S. Army and Air Force, as well as working as a police officer for the Department of the Navy in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

He and his wife will move to North Carolina, where he will be the senior field engineer for Whiting-Turner Construction Company, working with its federal group at Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base.

Claudia Chavez-Rhoades

Chavez-Rhoades graduated magna cum laude from the applied workplace leadership program, offered completely online and designed for nontraditional students and returning adult learners who have either completed associate degrees in any field or earned previous college credit.

Chavez-Rhoades started the Global Campus program during the semester that the COVID-19 pandemic started and was challenged with balancing working from home, pursuing her own studies from home and helping her four children continue their education from home.

Originally from South Gate, California, Chavez-Rhoades first attended NMU 15 years ago and began working as a licensed practical nurse in pediatrics. She is also a certified health coach and is certified in mental health first aid. Making a move to health care administration, she became the Quality Initiatives Program coordinator for Upper Peninsula Health Care Solutions, and is now the clinical coordinator for the Physician Group Incentive Program of Upper Peninsula Health Plan.

Chavez-Rhoades said she hopes to enroll in an online graduate program in leadership, management and strategy through Michigan State University.