Four Marietta College students honored by WVSCPA

by Tom Perry

Marietta, Ohio (11/15/2022) — Four students from Marietta College's Accounting and Public Accounting programs were honored for their academic excellence at the annual Student Recognition Night hosted by the Parkersburg chapter of the West Virginia Society of CPAs.

The Marietta students recognized were David Fruner '23 (Parkersburg, West Virginia), Ethan Brooker '24 (Beverly, Ohio), Kya Forker '24 (Zanesville, Ohio), and Brett Gandee '24 (Vincent, Ohio) were chosen by Marietta's Accounting faculty to be recognized.

"After attending the WVSCPA Student Night, I can say I thoroughly enjoyed the evening, from beginning to end," said Gandee, who is majoring in Accounting. "The social hour was terrific in terms of meeting accounting professionals in the workforce and listening to their experiences and using their advice to guide me in my future endeavors."

The event, held at the Parkersburg Country Club on November 8th, included a business social hour, buffet dinner, and talk by the current WVSCPA president, Michael Costanzo.

For many years, the Parkersburg chapter of the WVSCPA has included Marietta College students and faculty in its events. Emeritus Professor of Accounting Edward H. Osborne served on the chapter's leadership team during his years at Marietta College, and Professor Grace Johnson has had a long relationship with the Society at the state and local chapter levels.

"Although my CPA certificate is issued by the State of Ohio, I've long been a member of the West Virginia Society because of its local chapter structure. I'm closer to Parkersburg and Charleston than Columbus," Johnson said.

Forker, who is majoring in Accounting, said, "Attending the WVSCPA Student Night was a great opportunity to network with experienced accounting professionals and to learn more about the accounting field. The conversations I had at this event were very meaningful and gave me a new perspective on the field as a whole."

Brooker, who is majoring in Public Accounting and Finance, acknowledged the value of professional networking and added, "It also allowed us to learn how the field is constantly changing."

"I met a variety of accounting professionals from a wide array of backgrounds, which was incredibly helpful in showing me the versatility of accounting," said Fruner, who is majoring in Accounting.

Located in Marietta, Ohio, at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers, Marietta College is a four-year liberal arts college. Tracing its roots to the Muskingum Academy back in 1797, the College was officially chartered in 1835. Today Marietta College serves a body of 1,200 full-time students. The College offers more than 50 majors and is consistently ranked as one of the top regional comprehensive colleges by U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review, as well as one of the nation's best by Forbes.com. Marietta was selected seventh in the nation according to the Brookings Institution's rankings of colleges by their highest value added, regardless of major.

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