Master’s students earn degrees at 155th Commencement
At McDaniel’s 2025 Graduate Commencement Ceremony, 283 students celebrated the achievement of earning their master’s degrees, conferred from 22 programs. Two special awards were presented during the ceremony. One student award was given to a master’s degree recipient in the Deaf Education program, while a faculty award was presented to a senior online graduate adjunct lecturer in School Librarianship.
At McDaniel’s 2025 Graduate Commencement Ceremony, 283 students celebrated the achievement of earning their master’s degrees, conferred from 22 programs.
The graduating students hail from 26 states and Washington, D.C., and 15 countries. A multigenerational class that ranges in age from 22 to 65 years old, most of the graduates earned their degrees in Counseling, Data Analytics, Educational Leadership, Innovations in Teaching and Learning, and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). Of the graduating class, 22 hold bachelor’s degrees from McDaniel.
President Julia Jasken congratulated the graduates on completing their McDaniel education and shared her confidence in their future endeavors.
President Jasken then welcomed the 2025 Graduate Commencement speaker, Simeon K. Schlossberg, associate professor of Counseling. Schlossberg, who joined the faculty at McDaniel in 1997, has also taught courses in the college’s undergraduate Education department and served as a consultant for Target Community & Educational Services Inc., in conjunction with the college’s Master of Science in Human Services Management.
He is the founder and director of Blue Chair Group, a private clinical practice in Lutherville, Maryland, offering individual and family therapy and couples counseling.
Graduate Commencement speaker Simeon K. Schlossberg.
Schlossberg opened his remarks to the graduates by recognizing the efforts they’ve put into reaching their graduate Commencement. He shared that the reason he enjoys Commencement ceremonies is because "there is a feeling of generosity in this room. There's a feeling of kindness in this room. There's a feeling of gratitude in this room."
He shared anecdotes of times when those qualities were difficult to give or went unreciprocated but were still necessary.
He concluded by telling the graduates, "You all have done something great. Pull the people who were with you today closer. Relish in that time. Please know that we at McDaniel — I think I can speak for the faculty, staff, and the administration — we're proud of you."
Following Schlossberg’s remarks, Dean of Graduate and Professional Studies Vickie Mazer introduced the tradition of hooding ceremonies. During the ceremony, each graduate received their academic hood individually on stage while accepting their diploma.
Two special awards were presented during the ceremony. The B. Jill Brooks Hodge Professional Development Award was given to a master’s degree recipient in McDaniel College’s Deaf Education program. In addition, the Shelton Adjunct Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence was presented to a senior online graduate adjunct lecturer in School Librarianship.
The B. Jill Brooks Hodge Professional Development Award
Established in 2011 to honor the memory of B. Jill Brooks Hodge, who received a Bachelor of Arts in 1979 and a Master of Education in 1981, by friends, family, and sorority sisters of Delta Sigma Kappa in honor of the significant impact she had on her students, family, and friends as a person of acceptance, humility, education, and compassion. This award is designated for professional development, is presented annually to a graduate student who has demonstrated academic excellence, and who is preferably majoring in Deaf Education.
Vickie Mazer, dean of Graduate and Professional Studies, with the B. Jill Brooks Hodge Professional Development Award recipient Megan Elizabeth Barksdale, and Bruce Preston '75, chair of the Board of Trustees (l-r).
Megan Elizabeth Barksdale of Kansas City, Missouri, is the 2025 recipient of The B. Jill Brooks Hodge Professional Development Award. She is graduating with a Master of Science in Education of the Deaf.
Barksdale strives to foster the academic, social, and language development of every student she encounters. She values her students and the opportunity to make a lasting impact on their lives. Her decision to pursue a master’s degree in Deaf Education at McDaniel was driven by her desire to grow as an educator in order to better serve her community.
She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a minor in Deaf Studies. As an undergraduate, she participated in mitochondrial disease research at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She also served as the program director of the Penn Reading Initiative. Through one-on-one tutoring, the organization connects college students with elementary school students in West Philadelphia to improve their reading skills and cultivate their passion for learning.
After graduating, Barksdale worked at the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf for two years as a paraprofessional. Since 2022, she has supported students at The Kansas School for the Deaf as a paraprofessional, building substitute, and now a classroom teacher.
During the 2024-25 school year, Barksdale was excited to see her interests in biology and education converge while teaching middle school science and coaching the robotics team to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf’s robotics competition.
She currently lives in Overland Park, Kansas, with her rescue Chihuahua, Harper, and looks forward to furthering her career in Deaf education.
The Shelton Adjunct Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence
Established in 2018 through the generosity of Dr. Barbara P. Shelton ’70 and Dr. Gordon B. Shelton ’68, this award recognizes an outstanding adjunct faculty member at the graduate or undergraduate level whose teaching demonstrates a commitment to excellence and genuine care for their students.
President Julia Jasken with Jamie Rooney '07, M.S. '11, the Shelton Adjunct Faculty Award recipient, and Vickie Mazer, dean of Graduate and Professional Studies (l-r).
The recipient of the 2025 Shelton Adjunct Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence is Jamie Ridgely Rooney ’07, M.S. ’11, senior online graduate adjunct lecturer in the School Librarianship master’s program.
Rooney earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and a Master of Science in School Library Media (now School Librarianship) from McDaniel College and also earned Administrator I certification in 2023 from McDaniel.
She is a media specialist in Carroll County Public Schools (CCPS) and serves as the elementary liaison on the CCPS Media Advisory Committee and as a member of the Maryland Association of School Librarians.
She began teaching in McDaniel College’s School Librarianship program in 2017 and has taught a particularly wide breadth of topics, exhibiting her significant amount of expertise. A few of her courses have included Literature for Children, Instructional Collaboration, Learning Design, School Library Action Research, School Library Leadership, Collection Development, and the Professional Portfolio course.
She is a skillful online instructor in the fully online School Librarianship program. She teaches effective, personalized lessons designed for working graduate students. She also mentors incoming graduate instructors, and she is known for her generous feedback and positive attitude with her colleagues and students.
