Currently: 53°F
From the moment Olivia Stoner arrived on campus at Millersville University in the fall of 2014 to the moment she walked across the stage at the spring undergraduate commencement ceremony on Saturday, meeting and serving people has been her biggest passion. Thanks to her personal drive and the opportunities she received at MU, Stoner will continue to pursue that passion through a full academic scholarship to Texas A&M School of Law.
“I was speechless, ecstatic and very thankful,” says Stoner, who double majored in economics and government & political affairs and minored in history and international studies. A Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania resident, she graduated with honors, cum laude.
As Stoner progressed through coursework, participated in clubs and organizations, and developed relationships, the motivated student realized that she could best seek her passions by working in the government through law. After visiting Texas A&M with the Student Government Association (SGA) in February 2017, their law school became one of her top choices and at the end of April, she accepted a full academic scholarship.
“Unlike with graduate school, scholarships for law school are rare,” explains Dr. Richard Glenn, chair of MU’s government & political affairs department. “And a full scholarship is all the more remarkable.”
Stoner prepared for law school both in and outside of the classroom at MU through her involvement and leadership in the Walker Fellowship, SGA, College Democrats, Panhellenic Council, Alpha Sigma Tau, Honors Economic Society, SHARP Team, Center for Student Involvement and Leadership, and Millersville Orientation. With highlights such as helping to organize the Bernie Sanders rally and to restore a house with Habitat for Humanity, she developed relationships with hundreds of people in the process.
“I am so glad to be able to move onto the next phase of my life and start focusing on what I really love,” explains Stoner, who will study immigration and family law with the intention of practicing as an adoption lawyer or consultant for the Department of Homeland Security Citizen and Immigration Services. “But I am going to miss all the wonderful people I have met throughout my time at Millersville, including all the wonderful professors, like Dr. Glenn and Dr. (Adam) Lawrence, who have helped to shape me into the student I am today.”
