Past Presidential Fellows 2013-2014

John Buckley ’15
Haverhill, Massachusetts
Office of the Vice President for Marketing and Strategic Communications

John Buckley is a double major in business administration and communication arts, and a recipient of Presidential Honors. He is Vice President of the Gordon Economics and Business Organization and a member of the Campus Events Council. He has been involved as a rep-at-large with the Gordon College Student Association, for which he co-led an affordable student shuttle service (a GCSA initiative that provided airport transportation during finals week and spring break.) Before transferring to Gordon, John spent his freshman year at George Fox University in Oregon. He graduated summa cum laude as valedictorian of his high school class at Bradford Christian Academy in Haverhill, Massachusetts, where he was student body president and received a leadership scholarship. John recently worked as a creative development intern at Walden Media (The Chronicles of Narnia), and as a network infrastructure intern at Akamai Technologies in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Despite a heavy academic schedule, John still does design work for his father’s church, King of Grace Church in Haverhill, where he also attends and plays on the worship team. After Gordon, John hopes to get an M.B.A. with a concentration in marketing, serve in an upcoming Boston church plant, and enter the public square by assuming a leadership position or starting his own company.

Dawn Cianci ’14
Fresno, California
Office of the Vice President for Student Life

Dawn Cianci is a double major in philosophy and political science. She was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and raised in upstate New York, Iowa and Tanzania; she finished high school in the Central Valley of California. She participated in the Jerusalem and Athens Forum and her JAF essay won second place in the STILLPOINT essay contest. Dawn studied abroad at Wycliffe Hall in Oxford University her junior year. Active in Model United Nations (MUN) since entering college— twice representing Gordon at Harvard, and once representing Oxford at Cambridge—while in England she received the award for Honourable Delegate at Cambridge University’s 2013 MUN Conference. She was one of six students competitively selected to represent Oxford at the University of Reading's Undergraduate Philosophy Conference. Dawn has served as a teaching assistant for the Department of Philosophy, and co-founded the Gordon College Democrats Club. She has served in the Gordon College Student Association, is a member of the swim team, and has played saxophone for the Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band. After graduating, Dawn hopes to pursue a Fulbright Scholarship in South Africa. She aspires to work in the field of biomedical ethics.

Kristen Gandek ’15
Bolton, Massachusetts
Office of the Executive Vice President

Kristen Gandek is a junior majoring in English language and literature with a concentration in creative writing, and a minor in neuroscience. She is a graduate of Nashoba Regional High School in Massachusetts. Touring nationally and internationally with the Treble Chorus of New England, Kristen received the Director’s (leadership) and Barney (mentoring) Awards. At Trinity Church of Bolton, she was the youth representative to the Outreach Committee for several years, and led the youth worship team. As co-leader of the Gordon College Women's Ministry, Kristen builds relationships and connections among women across campus through selecting and organizing events. She spent the summer of 2012 studying with Gordon College's Salzburg Institute in Austria, and returned on scholarship in 2013 as an honors student. She looks forward to a career in writing and communications, integrating the liberal arts with the Christian life.

David Hicks ’14
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Office of the President

David Hicks is a triple major in philosophy, English and history. He has participated in the Gordon College Student Association, Campus Events Council, and evening Chapel band, and helped plan campus-wide events including Sexuality Week. He has served as a tutor in the Academic Support Center, a teaching assistant for philosophy courses, and the assistant editor of If I Told You. His writing has been published in STILLPOINT and the Washington Post’s On Leadership blog. David studied abroad at Oxford University’s Wycliffe Hall during his junior year, and has consistently maintained Presidential Honors. Beyond Gordon, David has been the Research Assistant to the interim provost of Eastern University in St. Davids, Pennsylvania, and an intern at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. A worship leader at his home church for a number of years, he co-founded Project 25:35, which effectively responded to various needs of homeless people in the Philadelphia area. David hopes to do graduate work in the United Kingdom, and eventually practice law.

Lauren Oliver ’14
La Crescent, Minnesota
Office of the Senior Vice President for External Relations

Lauren Oliver is an A. J. Gordon Scholar majoring in business administration, and she is also working toward minors in youth ministry and nonprofit management. A resident assistant for two years, Lauren has also worked as a teaching assistant in the Department of Biblical Studies and Christian Ministries. She was a student leader on a missions trip to the Yakama Indian Reservation. She interned under Gordon's director of residential life, and in summer 2013 interned at Taylor University under Drew Moser, associate dean of students and director of the career and calling office. In 2013-14 she will take part in the Elijah Project, Gordon College's vocationally-focused honors program. Lauren hopes to earn a master’s in higher education and work in student development and other administrative roles at a Christian institution.

Jorge Rodriguez ’14
Manchester, Connecticut
Office of the Provost 

Jorge Rodriguez is a senior from Manchester, Connecticut, majoring in biblical studies and minoring in Christian social thought. He is a graduate of the Connecticut International Baccalaureate Academy. At Gordon he was awarded the Clarendon Scholarship, and he has worked with the Admissions Office to expand Clarendon Scholars recruitment. Jorge has participated in multiple honors programs including the Jerusalem and Athens Forum, the Elijah Project, and the Kenneth L. Pike Honors Program. As a member of student government, he helped found the Undergraduate Research Council. Beyond Gordon, he has been involved with the Center for Public Justice (CPJ) and its Shared Justice initiative, and with the National Head Start Association; his family was recognized as one of 10 outstanding Head Start families in the nation. This summer he interned at CPJ in Washington, D.C. Jorge intends to pursue graduate work in political theology followed by a career in higher education as a professor or administrator, or in the public sphere at a think tank or government agency.

Sam Stockwell ’14
Woodstock, Vermont
Office of the President

Sam Stockwell is an A. J. Gordon Scholar and member of the Jerusalem and Athens Forum. He is a communication arts major with a minor in biblical studies. Sam came to Gordon from picturesque Woodstock, Vermont, where he was senior class president, captain of the football and basketball teams, and editor-in-chief of the paper at his high school. At Gordon, Sam has held leadership positions in student ministries, co-led a summer missions program in Swaziland, and as an Orientation staffer led a crew and coordinated Boston Day. He has worked at the Bennett Center and as a basketball coach at the Landmark School. He earned Presidential Honors at Gordon. Sam plans to attend graduate school and pursue leadership opportunities in a church or parachurch ministry.