Scots Soar After Graduation

Monmouth graduates ‘are continuing to do the things they want to do’

Each Monmouth College class includes stories of triumph, success and individual greatness. These four members of the Class of 2023 are but a small sample of the accomplishments Scots routinely achieve thanks to their Monmouth experience.

It’s little wonder, then, that Monmouth graduates are highly valued by employers, graduate schools and professional programs. The post-graduate results of the Class of 2023 will not be known until mid-2024, but they will likely mirror recent graduates’ success.

Among members of the Class of 2022, 98% reported being either employed or in graduate school within six months after graduating. According to the College’s First Destination Survey results, roughly 75% of those graduates were working, and the other 25% were attending graduate or professional school.

“Those results show that students are continuing to do the things they want to do,” said Marnie Dugan ’95, director of the Wackerle Center for Career, Leadership and Fellowships. “It sounds so simple, but it’s a very good thing. They’re navigating things on the employment side and on the graduate school side.”

Another piece of good news: an increase in the number of students who had an internship. “The results showed more engagement for the graduates when they were students,” said Dugan, “with the percentage of students reporting having at least one internship during their four years increasing from 62% to 89%.”

Jonathon ‘JD’ Diaz

Jonathon “JD” Diaz of Chicago majored in communication studies, played football, oversaw the football program’s social media efforts, served as student coordinator of multimedia content for the Champion Miller Center and was a lead peer mentor for its Men of Distinction program. His next stop: graduate school in media and communication at Middle Tennessee State University while also completing his duties as a recruiting graphic designer for the school’s football team.

Tim McNally

Tim McNally of Paw Paw, Ill., saw two of his schools close – Paw Paw High School and MacMurray College. That led him to Monmouth in fall 2020, where he excelled as a pitcher on the baseball team and as an educational studies major, graduating summa cum laude. This fall, he’ll teach in Earlville, Ill., in what he calls a “self-contained classroom” and help coach Earlville’s high school team.

Mackenzie Holmes

Four years after being recruited to play lacrosse, Mackenzie Holmes of Clive, Iowa, became a sought-after law school student. An accounting and business major with a minor in economics who made the Dean’s List every semester and graduated magna cum laude, Holmes will attend the University of Iowa College of Law in the fall. She was also a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, a finalist in Moot Court competition and a recipient of the prestigious Tom Johnson Scholarship.

To read more about these four students, other outstanding graduates and the College’s First Destination Survey results, go to monmouthcollege.edu/2023grads

Sreya Roy

Sreya Roy of Kolkata, India, has spent a lot of time on research. Before she starts work on a doctorate in chemistry at the University of Iowa in the fall, Roy will spend the summer on an undergraduate research fellowship in Taiwan. While she was a biochemistry major, Roy took part in Monmouth’s Doc Kieft Summer Research Program and completed a research experience for undergraduates at the Mayo Clinic. She was also involved with the College’s dance team and Alpha Xi Delta sorority.

GOLDEN SCOTS