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W&L Seniors Smithson, Reynolds Named Generals of the Month for February

Washington and Lee University seniors Connor Smithson and Bethany Reynolds will be recognized as General of the Month for February during a presentation on Thursday, Feb. 14, at 12:15 p.m. in the Marketplace in Elrod Commons.

Smithson, of Cary, N.C., is a business administration major. He attended the Marine Corps Officer Candidates School during the summers before his junior and senior years. Before his senior year he completed training for his May 23, 2013, commissioning as an officer in the U.S. Marines. He will attend flight school to become a pilot.

A graduate of Cary Academy, he is a Robert E. Lee Scholar, a varsity lacrosse player, an ODAC Scholar Athlete Recipient, a varsity wrestler and holds the Captain Jay Stull Memorial Scholarship. Smithson is the president of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and works for W&L Dining Services.

Reynolds, of Baltimore, is an East Asian languages and literature major with a concentration in Chinese. She is a member of Phi Eta Sigma Freshman National Honor Society, Omicron Delta Kappa, the W&L Singers, and the Dean’s List. She works for W&L’s Tucker Multimedia Center in the language/humanities lab and is an advanced pianist.

A graduate of Dulaney High School, she is the founder of Preparing for Tomorrow, a biannual series of discussion forums aimed at educating W&L about contemporary global issues. She will present a research paper to the Society for Applied Anthropology in March 2013 on her work at the North Carolina State University Ethnographic Field School in Guatemala.

Generals of the Month is coordinated by the Celebrating Student Success (CSS) initiative and sponsored by the Division of Student Affairs to inspire engaged citizenship at Washington and Lee University.  CSS seeks to recognize students who are not typically or sufficiently touted for the depth and breadth they add to our campus community.

Smithson and Reynolds were selected by the CSS Committee, which is composed of students, faculty and staff. Any member of the campus community can nominate a W&L student at any time with the online form at go.wlu.edu/css.

Future CSS presentations during the 2012-2013 academic year will be held during lunch in the Marketplace in the Elrod Commons on dates in March, April and May, which are yet to be determined.