Eastern Michigan University hosted its 45th annual Undergraduate Symposium inside the campus’ student center on Friday, March 28, 2025.
The event, which when first started in 1980 was the first of its kind in the country, allows undergraduate students the opportunity to pursue further knowledge of their studies and present research and projects. This is much like how PhD or graduate students might present their theses at the end of their program.
Hosted by the College of Arts and Science, the Symposium allows students in all five of the university’s colleges to present.
Throughout the day, students gave oral and poster presentations to visitors. Topics ranged anywhere from research on the relationship between the production of one of the peptides responsible for Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative disorders against an enzyme found in non-small cell lung cancer cells, to a scalable cybersecurity program utilizing AI developed by a student.
The Symposium also displayed many students in the School of Art and Design's capstone projects as part of the Crossing Lines Design Expo and Gallery in room 300 of the Student Center. All of the presentations and projects at the event represented the culmination of students’ and their faculty mentors’ work throughout the year.
Eastern Michigan University President James Smith stated in his luncheon address, “I run into people when we’re doing visits around the country and around the world, and I ask, ‘What was your most memorable moment [at Eastern]? It often will be ‘my Symposium presentation’ or ‘the friendship I developed as a result of the work that I did for the Symposium.”
Presenting for the first time was Eastern Michigan’s College in Prison Program, which is partnered with the Women’s Huron Correctional Facility.
President Smith was in attendance for program intern Jenelle Yarmoluk’s presentation, which gave a multi-level examination of the effects of the program. The program, which has offered credited courses to women in the correctional facility since 2023, had its first student presentations played through videos recorded by the students for family and other visitors in the audience.
This year’s Symposium keynote speaker was Eastern Michigan alumnus Nino Monea, who is currently a visiting law professor for Stetson University in Florida, and former clerk with Justice Bridget Cormack on the Michigan Supreme Court.
Monea was the student Emcee for the 36th Undergraduate Symposium and presented projects at the Symposium several times while he served as Student Body Vice President in his time at EMU before graduating and moving on to Harvard Law School.
“I think back to the best professors I had at Eastern," Monea said. "Professors like Dr. Bernstein, James de Norris and Barry Pyle. They are the standard I strive for now … So let me issue a challenge to all the students here, the skills you get, not just from this event, but from this education, are incredible tools that, in the right hands, can do enormous good. So I ask you, whatever you do, make public service not just a line of work but a way of life.”
Monea made himself available for students and faculty members after his address and could be seen throughout the event walking the halls and engaging with visitors and presenters.
