The University named senior Devin Diggs valedictorian Thursday, according to a press release. Senior Morgan La Sala was named salutatorian.
The valedictorian and salutatorian are selected among the students with the highest grade point averages in each college. Those identified submit an application and are then interviewed by a selection committee before finally being approved by University President Fr. John Jenkins, according to the release.
Diggs, from Olathe, Kansas, is a neuroscience and behavior major. He also holds a minor in education, schooling and society. Diggs, who holds a 4.0 grade point average, was a finalist for the 2021 Rhodes Scholarship and Marshall Scholarship. He also received a Postgraduate Student Award from the U.S.-U.K. Fulbright Commission for the upcoming academic year, which he will use to pursue a Master of Science in mental health in education at the University of York, according to the release.
Following graduation, Diggs will participate in a 10-week summer internship with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in Washington D.C., the release said. He wishes to attend medical school to serve as a physician-researcher in order to help families affected by early life adversity, according to the release.
Diggs served as president of The Shirt Project last year. A member of the dean’s list every semester, Diggs worked in Ghana in the summer of 2019 at the Center for Learning and Childhood Development, the release said. He also worked at the Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis last summer and was a three-year research assistant in the Sleep, Stress and Memory Lab on campus, the release said.
La Sala, originally from Wayne, New Jersey, is a mechanical engineering major. She received a three-year Naval ROTC scholarship and was a battalion commanding officer in the fall of 2021, according to the release. In ROTC, La Sala served as a midshipmen mentor for incoming freshmen, battalion command master chief and battalion academics officer, the release said. Following graduation, she will serve active duty as a commissioned ensign and begin flight school to become a Navy pilot, according to the release.
She holds a 3.985 GPA, has been a member of the dean’s list every semester and is a member of the Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society and the Pi Tau Sigma mechanical engineering honor society, the release said.
La Sala was an aerospace and mechanical engineering department teaching assistant and served as an elementary and middle school reading and math tutor at the Robinson Community Learning Center. She was also a four-year member of the club field hockey team.
The 177th University Commencement will take place Sunday, May 15 at Notre Dame Stadium. Diggs will deliver the valedictory address and La Sala will offer the invocation.
