Brendan LaBelle-Hamer II of Fairbanks earns top scholar-athlete award & graduates from Saint Michael's College

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Saint Michael's College Athletic Director Geri Knortz presents top scholar-athlete award to Brendan Tully LaBelle-Hamer. Photo by Jeff Clarke

COLCHESTER, VT (05/24/2011)(readMedia)-- Brendan "Tully" LaBelle-Hammer II, son of Brendan and Nettie LaBelle-Hamer of Fairbanks, earned a bachelor's degree in engineering, magna cum laude, from Saint Michael's College, May 16, 2011, in ceremonies held on the campus of the liberal arts residential Catholic college located in the Burlington area of Vermont. Mr. LaBelle-Hamer was also awarded the Roger F. Keleher Award given to the top male scholar-athlete of the year.

James Wall, a 1974 graduate of Saint Michael's, and now global managing director of human resources for Deloitte Touche Tomatsu, a multinational corporation with 2,000 partners and over 100,000 employees, was the featured speaker at the Saint Michael's College 104th commencement. "The value of a liberal-arts education at Saint Michael's College has never been more relevant than it is today – never," he declared. "My Saint Michael's experience taught me how to learn. Nothing is more important in today's world." Wall served on the college's board of trustees for 12 years, four of those as chairman. Some 435 undergraduates received bachelor's degrees at the ceremony as well as 95 graduate students who earned master's degrees.

LaBelle-Hamer wins top scholar-athlete award

In presenting the Keleher Award to Brendan Tully LaBelle-Hamer, Saint Michael's Athletic Director Geri Knortz said, this student is outstanding in many ways, "He is a standout hockey player, a selfless leader and a star in the classroom."

Mr. LaBelle-Hamer earned a 3.885 Grade Point Average (GPA) at Saint Michael's College and was named to the ECAC (Eastern College Athletic Conference) All-Academic Hockey Team. He was a Northeast-10 Conference Scholar Athlete, and was inducted into Delta Epsilon Sigma, the national Catholic honor society

Additionally, Mr. LaBelle-Hamer did volunteer coaching with South Burlington Youth Hockey teams and with Dream hockey, youth mentoring, as well as with Skate for Youth. He was an SMC Wilderness Program instructor, leading coastal kayaking expeditions, and was named to Who's Who among Students in American Universities and Colleges.

Learn What Matters at Saint Michael's College, The Edmundite Catholic liberal arts college, www.smcvt.edu . Saint Michael's provides education with a social conscience, producing graduates with the intellectual tools to lead successful, purposeful lives that will contribute to peace and justice in our world. Founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, Saint Michael's College is located three miles from Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top college towns. It is identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nations Best 371 Colleges, and is included in the 2011 Fiske Guide to Colleges. Saint Michael's is one of only 280 colleges and universities nationwide, one of only 20 Catholic colleges, with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter. Saint Michael's has 1,900 undergraduate students, some 500 graduate students and 100 international students. Saint Michael's students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Pickering, Guggenheim, Fulbright, and other grants. The college is one of the nation's top-100, Best Liberal Arts Colleges as listed in the 2011 U.S. News & World Report rankings.