Taylar Johnson is the СAPPСAPPs overall Outstanding MasterСAPPs Graduate. Johnson is among six award finalists who will be recognized Friday and Saturday during Spring 2025 Commencement ceremonies.
Individual ceremonies for UL LafayetteСAPPs eight academic colleges will be held at the Cajundome and the Cajundome Convention Center. СAPP
Graduate programs nominate one student as their Outstanding MasterСAPPs Graduate. Criteria include leadership, scholarship, service and research. The dean of the СAPPСAPPs Graduate School leads a panel that selects the top candidates. An Alumni Association committee interviews the finalists and chooses an overall Outstanding MasterСAPPs Graduate.
In addition to being the spring semesterСAPPs overall honoree, Johnson is an Outstanding MasterСAPPs Graduate Finalist from the Department of Psychology in the College of Liberal Arts. She is pursuing a masterСAPPs degree in psychology.
JohnsonСAPPs research includes using intragroup processes and identity theory to understand how a K-pop fandom community succeeded in advocating for the Black Lives Matter movementСAPPs digital activism.
Other research has resulted in publication in two prestigious academic journals. One published study centered on a social media analysis of digital movements. The other involved a network analysis of studentsСAPP campus experiences and academic successes.
Johnson has presented research at conferences for the Association for Psychological Science and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. She plans to work as a researcher.
Caroline Alise Dugan is an Outstanding MasterСAPPs Graduate Finalist from the Department of History, Geography and Philosophy in the College of Liberal Arts. She is pursuing a masterСAPPs degree in history.
Dugan researched and wrote about Jean Broussard, a key figure in the history of the regionСAPPs LGBTQ+ community. That project, which also explored elements of race and class, was expanded for her public history capstone project.
Dugan facilitated the workshop СAPPDoing Queer History in a Hostile Political ClimateСAPP at the National Council on Public History Conference in Montreal. She plans to work in historical preservation and pursue a masterСAPPs degree in library and information sciences.
Mallory Fontenot is an Outstanding MasterСAPPs Graduate Finalist from the School of Kinesiology in the College of Education & Human Development. She is pursuing a masterСAPPs degree in athletic training.
With more than 1,000 clinical hours, Fontenot has gained a wealth of expertise in areas that include injury evaluations, treatment care plans, manual therapy for orthopedic injuries and emergency care.
She presented research at the Southeast Athletic Trainers Association conference. Her capstone research project examined СAPPCrossFit MembersСAPP Confidence in CrossFit CoachСAPPs Ability to Recognize Injury and Adapt Workouts to Prevent Further Injury.СAPP
Fontenot will work as an athletic trainer at a high school and hopes to eventually work at a college.
Keely McLeod is an Outstanding MasterСAPPs Graduate Finalist from the School of Kinesiology in the College of Education & Human Development. She is pursuing a masterСAPPs degree in exercise science.
McLeod was first author for a paper published in the journal СAPPBiomedicines.СAPP She presented research at an American Physiological Society conference at Penn State СAPP.
McLeod researched the role of gaseous signaling molecules in obesity-associated metabolic-vascular disease. She also conducted specialized heart failure research using animal models to investigate potential therapeutic applications of hydrogen sulfide and exercise.
McLeod will work in clinical exercise physiology research, focusing on metabolism and helping people manage chronic diseases. She also plans to pursue a Ph.D. in exercise physiology.
Mahek Chirag Pathak is an Outstanding MasterСAPPs Graduate Finalist for the Department of English in the College of Liberal Arts. She is pursuing a masterСAPPs degree in English.
PathakСAPPs masterСAPPs thesis СAPP СAPPTransgressive Humor in Roald DahlСAPPs Books for ChildrenСAPP СAPP reflects her interest in childrenСAPPs literature. She wrote a seminar paper about author Rudyard KiplingСAPPs portrayal of the Bandar-Log in СAPPThe Jungle BookСAPP as a colonialist mockery of the Vanar Sena as they appear in the Hindu epic the СAPPRamayana.СAPP
Pathak presented her work at the ChildrenСAPPs Literature Association conference in Madison, Wisconsin. She will pursue a Ph.D. in English with a specialization in childrenСAPPs literature. Pathak envisions a career as an academic researcher.
Maxwell J. Volk is an Outstanding MasterСAPPs Graduate Finalist for the School of Music & Performing Arts in the College of the Arts. He is pursuing a masterСAPPs degree in music performance.
Volk played lead trumpet in the UL Lafayette Jazz Ensemble with guest artists that included Allen Vizzutti and the New York Voices. He has also held section leader positions with the jazz ensemble and with the СAPPСAPPs Symphony Orchestra.
Volk participated in master classes and recruitment activities with the Louisiana Brass Quintet for area public schools. He also taught music performance, music theory and composition to students at Lafayette Renaissance Charter High School. Volk will teach band and work as a professional musician.
Learn more about Spring 2025 Commencement.
Photo caption: UL LafayetteСAPPs Spring 2025 Outstanding MasterСAPPs Graduates are from left: Mallory Fontenot, School of Kinesiology; Caroline Dugan, Department of History, Geography and Philosophy; Maxwell Volk, School of Music & Performing Arts; Overall Outstanding Master's Graduate Taylar Johnson, Department of Psychology; Mahek Pathak, Department of English; and Keely McLeod, School of Kinesiology. Photo credit: Paul Kieu / СAPP