May 20, 2023

Samantha Marsh '23 Samantha Marsh ’23Two Susquehanna University cadets have been named Distinguished Military Graduates for 2023.

Preston Isom ’23, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree and departmental honors in history. Samantha Marsh ’23, of Danville, Pennsylvania, graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

DMGs finish in the top 20% of Army graduates on the national Order of Merit List by achieving superior grade-point averages, exhibiting strong performance in the Army Combat Fitness Test and proving their worth as exceptional leaders in their college ROTC training. The DMG designation remains on a cadet’s Army record throughout their military career.

“Susquehanna University has enabled me to become a well-rounded academic, soldier and leader. I have been in music groups, the Army Reserves and a variety of classes that have contributed to the confidence I have gained in my ability to take the next step post-graduation,” Isom said. “Being at SU has encapsulated the Army’s ‘Be All You Can Be’ mantra and is something I would not trade for anything.”

Upon graduation from Susquehanna, Isom will serve as an executive officer for a cadet training company at Fort Knox, Kentucky, from May into early July. He will then attend the Field Artillery Basic Officer Leadership Course in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, before reporting in January as a field artillery officer in the 101st Airborne Division based in Fort Campbell, Tennessee.

Marsh will be stationed in South Korea where she will serve as a medical services corps officer in the U.S. Army in the 568th Ground Ambulance Company.

“The Army and the idea of selfless service is something that can be hard to balance. No one within the military joins with the idea that they are going to be rewarded for doing the work they signed up for,” Marsh said. “However, it is important to take the rewards as they come and then use them to better the lives of those around you, which is what I intend to do within my Army career.”

Two additional Susquehanna cadets were also part of the 71st commissioning class of the Bison Battalion, an Army ROTC program open to eligible full-time students at Susquehanna, Bucknell and Bloomsburg universities:

  • Conner Garrison ’23, of Chalfont, Pennsylvania. Garrison graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in earth and environmental sciences. After graduation he will be stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.
  • Adam Yeager ’23, of Wharton, New Jersey. Yeager graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in ecology. After graduation he will be stationed at Fort Lee, Virginia.