2024 Student Inductees
The Phi Beta Kappa Society’s Omega of California chapter at Loyola Marymount University inducted the following students in 2024.
Miles Breen is a double major in Sociology and Urban Studies, and a member of Alpha Kappa Delta, the sociology honor society, and the Ignatians Service Organization, through which he has provided meals, tech counseling, and environmental cleanup to underserved communities in the greater Los Angeles area. Breen served three years as copy editor of the Loyolan, during which he interviewed Washington DC residents and sitting and former Congresspeople for the lead up to the 2024 election. Following graduation, Breen plans to continue his work as a journalist.
Marco Byers-Mora, a Political Science major and Philosophy minor, is a member of the LMU Men’s Soccer team. After being a “COVID freshmen,” Byers-Mora walked on his sophomore year and was part of the historic 2023 season, when the team reached the NCAA Tournament Elite 8, the furthest run in program history. Byers-Mora has been named to the Dean’s List every semester for four years. After graduation, he intends to teach English and work as a chef in Madrid, Spain, the city of his mother’s birth.
Megan Chen is a double major in Psychology and Music, with a concentration in violin performance. She is a member of the Psi Chi Psychology Honor Society and recipient of the Arrupe and BCLA Advisory Board scholarships. Chen works as a music theory tutor and student administrator at the Psychology Participant Pool. She has been involved in research on unconscious priming and visual control of balance and has performed the violin as a soloist for various occasions on campus. Following graduation, Chen plans to pursue a Masters degree in school counseling and move back to East Asia to begin her career.
Mitchell Evans, a Political Science major and History minor with a concentration in Global Economies, Encounters, and Exchanges, is a member of Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honor society. He has worked as an assistant for the Department of Political Science’s Institute for Leadership Studies, Student Ambassador, and member of the Malone facilities staff, and served as Vice President and President of the College Democrats, to inform college students about today's political environment and ways to get involved. As a participant in the Political Science Honors Thesis Program, Evans has researched the historical development of the Republican Party from Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump and presented his work at LMU’s Undergraduate Research Symposium and the Midwestern Political Science Association Conference. Following graduation, Evans plans to take a gap year to work on a political campaign, then pursue a master's degree in policy.
Emma Fallon, an International Relations and Spanish double major, has been on the Dean’s list each year at LMU. She served as the vice president of the women’s club soccer team and is a member of Espérer, a student-led service organization dedicated to raising awareness of human trafficking and promoting environmental justice, through which she has volunteered for the Friends of Ballona Wetlands and Venice Learning Garden and human trafficking advocacy events across Los Angeles. Following graduation, Fallon plans to attend law school and work for a firm dedicated to environmental justice.
Emma Guerrini Romano, a Biology major, has worked as a teaching assistant for the Biology and Chemistry departments & a research assistant for the Coastal Ecology and Conservation & Environmental Marine Physiology Labs. Her research has included a systematic review on seagrass in the genus Zostera, a multi-stressor closed system respirometry experiment on Mytilus mussels, a salinity stressor experiment on populations of M. galloprovincialis. and a senior capstone project involving the creation of a taxonomic key for the understudied species Z. pacifica, Guerrini Romano has presented her research at national and international conferences and volunteered with Friends of the Ballona Wetlands, Heal the Bay, and Surfrider Foundation. Following graduation, she will pursue her Ph.D. in Biology at the University of Washington.
Osiris Guinea Zepeda, a Biology major with a minor in Theological Studies, is an LMU Social Justice Scholar and a member of the Alpha Sigma Nu honors society. She has served as a student grader for the Biology Department and volunteer for the Colen Venice Family Clinic and the USC Keck School of Medicine. Guinea conducts marine physiology research that she has presented at the LMU, West Coast Biological Sciences, and Western Society of Naturalists undergraduate research symposiums. She currently works at the USC Verdugo Hills Hospital as a medical scribe for the emergency department and plans to attend medical school after graduation.
Brian Macdonald is a Mathematics major, English minor, and Trustee Scholar in the LMU Honors Program. He is a member of the Pi Mu Epsilon mathematics honor society and in 2023 he earned the highest score among LMU students on the Putnam Exam, the preeminent mathematics competition for undergraduate college students in the United States and Canada. Macdonald participated in LMU’s Summer Undergraduate Research Program by completing a group research project in graph theory and combinatorics, then presented his findings at the Southern California Discrete Mathematics Symposium, and is continuing this work with his honors thesis. He is president and founder of the LMU Chess Club and active with campus ministry, tutors for calculus classes, and works with behavioral specialists to mentor children at a summer camp. Macdonald will graduate summa cum laude and continue his mathematical studies in a PhD program.
Auden Marsh-Armstrong, a Psychology major, is a member of the Alpha Sigma Nu and Psi Chi honors societies and has been named to the Dean's List for four straight years. She works as an Exposure and Response Prevention Coach at the Psychological Care and Healing Center, a holistic mental health treatment center for individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder, and volunteers at the Crisis Text Line for suicide prevention. Her campus jobs have included Lead Course Tutor for Brain and Behavior at the Academic Resource Center, RAINS Undergraduate Research Fellow in the Brain and Cognition EEG Lab, and supervisor at the Burns Recreation Center. Marsh-Armstrong is completing her senior honors project and after graduation plans to enter a clinical psychology doctorate program to work with underserved populations and foster diversity, equity, and inclusion.
William Meaney, a Physics major, works as a tutor for the Physics Department and is conducting research for a senior thesis on the value of non-majors learning physics. He also enjoys taking Screenwriting and Japanese classes and playing club soccer. Meaney is looking forward to later this year becoming an assistant English teacher in Japan through the Japanese Embassy's Exchange and Teaching Program.
Karen Medrano, a History and Economics double major, has worked for the history and economics departments and as a teaching assistant for Business Calculus and Microeconomics courses. She is a member of Campus Ministry, for which she serves as Spirituality Chair, a Small Group Leader for faith sharing groups, and an organizer of events for Thursday nights at the Cave. Medrano has participated in Campus Ministry's Ignacio Companions Study Abroad Program to Ecuador and led a student group to World Youth Day in Portugal, and is an associate consultant for Consult for America, a student-run consulting organization providing pro-bono services to area businesses. Following graduation, Medrano plans to pursue graduate studies in economics.
Elsa Mitchell is a double major in Philosophy and Spanish, a recipient of the LMU Xavier and Pedro Arrupe scholarships, and a member of the Alpha Sigma Nu Jesuit Honor Society. She has worked on campus as a tutor for LMU’s Student-Athlete Services, volunteered summers to teach adult ESL classes, and held intern and volunteer positions with Cinemauto, an LA-based company that organizes pop-up, multisensory events aimed at non-traditional storytelling through art, film, and culture. Mitchell has also been named multiple times to the Dean’s List and participated in the LMU Spanish Club, El Espejo Mentoring program, and LMU Study Abroad Program in Madrid, Spain. After graduation she plans to apply to the U.S. Department of State’s Fulbright Program to teach English in Spain, and to continue her studies in either law or philosophy.
Osarumwense Okuno is a Political Science major with a minor in Chinese.
Olivia de Paschalis is a Psychology major and Italian minor, with membership in both respective honors societies, Psi Chi and Kappa Gamma Alpha. Last summer she was a policy intern with the San Francisco District Attorney’s office, where she worked on initiatives related to young adult justice. De Paschalis is currently a Rains Research Assistant in the Political Science and International Relations Department and conducts research on the practice of peacebuilding and its relationship to social identity by connecting the disciplines of psychology and political science. She presented these findings at the LMU Undergraduate Research Symposium, in addition to a separate project on Catholicism and capital punishment, grounded in the theological foundations supporting abolition. Following a gap year spent traveling and volunteering abroad, de Paschalis plans to continue her pursuit of systematic change in the world as she attends law school.
Ryan Waldheim, a Psychology major and Spanish minor, is a member of the Psi Chi and Alpha Sigma Nu honors societies and participates in activities through the Agape Service Organization. His work focuses on cognitive neuropsychological research into the visual nervous system. Following graduation, Waldheim plans to explore careers in ergonomics and design.
Yinuo Yao, an Economics major with a minor in International Relations, is a member of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association & the LMU Varsity Esports Team. He has volunteered at Shenzhen University on projects promoting women's empowerment through economic development; launched a podcast, “86 Meets 1,” aimed at bridging cultural differences between the U.S. and China; and founded, "TutorLink," an online tutoring platform. After graduation, Yao will pursue a Master of Management degree at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business and plans to expand his family’s business into North America.
Announcement of the Alpha Association Graduate Study Award from the Phi Beta Kappa Alumni Association in Southern California
Phi Beta Kappa member Rachel Rysso (BA, Art History, 2024) is the LMU recipient of the 2024 Alpha Association Graduate Study Award from the Phi Beta Kappa Alumni Association in Southern California.
Rysso was selected because of her extraordinary undergraduate record. She will be entering the Master of Arts Program in Art History with a special focus on “Continuity and Innovation: Reframing
Italian Renaissance Art from Masaccio to Michelangelo” at The Courtauld Institute of Art, London