For the 12th year, the Interfraternity Congress and Panhellenic Council at Case Western Reserve University selected their Greek All-Stars. This year, 10 members of the community were selected for their outstanding achievement in one of the following areas: leadership, academics, community service, athletics or creative arts. Greek All-Stars highlight the most outstanding members of the Greek community and celebrate the diversity of their achievements outside of fraternity and sorority life.
Academic All-Stars
Caitlin Powell, a just-graduated member of Delta Gamma, majored in biomedical engineering with a minor in chemistry. Throughout her university career, she maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.85, was on the Dean’s High Honors list for six semesters and received the President’s Scholarship, Case Alumni Association Junior-Senior Scholarship and Goldwater Scholarship for dedication and excellence in academics and research. Powell was active in Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honors Society, Mortar Board Honor Society, Alpha Eta Mu Beta Biomedical Engineering Honor Society and Gamma Sigma Alpha. Her on-campus research tracked muscle tissue development in the fetal heart, single protein imaging and biophotonics and regeneration of bone tissue. Now, Powell is preparing for an eight-year MD/PhD program at Emory University, where she hopes to improve chemotherapy techniques.
A rising senior economics and political science major, and chapter president of Beta Theta Pi, David Holcomb has a 4.0 cumulative GPA at Case Western Reserve. He has made Dean’s High Honors for the past five semesters, and last year he was awarded the Phi Beta Kappa Prize for sophomores with outstanding academic achievement. Additionally, Holcomb performs in Case in Point and the CWRU Jazz Ensemble. He was the president of Case College Republicans his sophomore year, where he helped to increase students’ understanding of political issues. He spent the summer of 2010 interning for U.S. Sen. Richard G. Lugar in Washington, D.C., during which time he researched legislative issues involving the Dodd-Frank regulatory reform act and trade regulations in Asia. He won a Wellman Hill Political Science Summer Internship Grant and will be working this summer as a research assistant at the Federal Reserve Bank. Holcomb is a member of the Order of Omega, Student Turning Point Society and Gamma Sigma Alpha and was this year’s Mr. CWRU.
Leadership All-Stars
Throughout her first three years on campus, Divya Aggarwal, a rising senior nutrition major and member of Sigma Psi, has worked to give back to the campus community through a number of Undergraduate Student Government leadership roles. She has served as a representative for Raymond House, a parliamentarian and vice president of student life; next year, she’ll serve as USG president. Aggarwal is a SMARRT Leader, a member of Student Turning Point Society, an orientation leader and a member of the Relay for Life planning committee. She has been involved with her chapter as social chair, formal chair and risk manager.
Keith Lupton, a graduating senior member of Sigma Nu and engineering physics major, has been involved in campus leadership for the last five years. He was a member of Undergraduate Student Government, serving on the finance committee and winning the Outstanding USG Member award. He served in the Emerging Leaders Program, the Thwing Study Over Committee, the Little Blue Book Committee, Student Ambassadors and Big Brothers Big Sisters. Lupton founded Pizzalympics on campus and helped to expand the program into what it is today. He is a member of Who’s Who and was last year’s Homecoming King.
Community Involvement All-Stars
Colleen Konsavage, a rising senior member of Phi Sigma Rho and current chapter president, is majoring in systems and control engineering. Throughout her college career, she has been very involved with Engineers Without Borders, including managing six different projects while developing the framework to impact life on a larger scale. She oversaw the completion of the facilities project to reuse sewer-bound wastewater on campus and worked on the Aquaponics Project, the Hattie Project and a sustainable irrigation system. She is the vice president of domestic projects for Engineers Without Borders.
As a graduating senior aerospace and mechanical engineering major and member of Delta Tau Delta, Eric Mott has worked tirelessly to increase community involvement and philanthropy on Case Western Reserve’s campus. In August 2009 he founded Dance Marathon at Case Western Reserve University, and it has since become the second largest student organization fundraiser. Dance Marathon’s Dancing With the CWRU Stars and Dance Marathon have raised nearly $10,000 to create an endowment to help aid families of children fighting cancer in University Hospitals Case Medical Center. Mott spoke at the 2010 Students Who Make a Difference Luncheon, and his program was awarded the Dorothy M. Pijan Outstanding Program Award.
Athletics All-Stars
Erin Hollinger is a rising senior member of Sigma Psi studying macromolecular science and engineering. A two-sport varsity athlete competing in basketball and track & field, she has been recognized in many different fashions. Hollinger is the co-captain of the basketball team, two-time University Athletic Association (UAA) player of the week, UAA/Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament MVP, overall leading scorer in the UAA and Academic All-American. She has scored more than 1,000 career points and was selected as a finalist for the Jostens Award, the most prestigious Division III basketball honor. Hollinger also was the UAA indoor high jump champion, an All-American and an Academic All-American in track & field.
A rising senior chemical engineering major and brother of Delta Tau Delta, Niro Wimalasena has excelled on the soccer field as well as within his fraternity. Serving as the team captain, Wimalasena is a three-time National Soccer Coaches Association of America/Adidas Men’s Team Academic Award recipient for highest GPA, two-time All-UAA Second Team Honors and Academic Honors and a First Team ESPN Academic All-District IV. He is a Case Association of Student Athletes executive board member, an executive committee member for his fraternity, an Emerging Leaders Program mentor and a member of the Relay for Life Executive Planning Committee. Wimalasena is a Who’s Who recipient and member of Gamma Sigma Alpha.
Creative Arts All-Stars
Erin Wendell, a rising senior member of Alpha Chi Omega majoring in theater arts and English, has been involved with Player’s Theater Group since her freshman year and is the current president. Her Player’s Theater Group performances include The Long Christmas Dinner, It’s A Life and The Sweetest Swing in Baseball. Her Eldred Mainstage performances include Stage Door, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told and Our Town. She also has worked behind the scenes in directing and stage management roles for Picasso at the Lapin Agile and Player’s Theater Group’s 30 Plays in 60 Minutes. She performed in the Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House graduate program performance of All’s Well that Ends Well at the Cleveland Play House.
Another rising senior member of Alpha Chi Omega, Alyssa Hoffert has been highly involved in performance and music work around campus. A music education major, she has won both major awards given to students in the music performance department: the concerto competition and the Joan Ter Ronis Recital Prize. Hoffert studied music therapy at the Cleveland Music School Settlement and teaches general music classes. Additionally, she performs with the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony and traveled with them around Europe. She is also a member of the Firelands Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Winds, the CSU Faculty Saxophone Quartet and CWRU Symphonic Winds. She has performed with the National Collegiate Wind Ensemble in Carnegie Hall and in the summer with the Glassmen Drum and Bugle Corps.