Franklin Pierce University announced that Rachel Strout has been named valedictorian for the Class of 2025, and Gabrielle Oliva has been named salutatorian.

They will be formally recognized at the university's Baccalaureate Ceremony and Commencement Exercises on May 9 and 10 on the Rindge.

Strout, from Bath, majored in both secondary education and English, with a minor in modeling mathematics and a certificate in women, gender and leadership. She is a former community assistant, has been a tutor at the Student Success Center for two years, and has been working for the university's marketing and communications department as a content creator for the last year.

She is the president of SISTUHS and an active member of Pierce Activities Council (PAC), as well as the secretary of Education Club and the vice president of her class in the Student Government Association. 

Strout is a four-year member and captain of the Raven Thunder Dance Team and plays the piccolo in the marching band. She is a member of the Phi Lambda Theta Honor Society, president of Franklin Pierce's chapter of Sigma Tau Delta Honor Society and a new inductee to the Sigma Zeta Honor Society. She plans to pursue a career as a high school English teacher.

She expressed her appreciation to "everyone who believed in me and thank you to anyone whose words or actions helped me grow into the confident woman I am today. Even small, seemingly insignificant interactions had a large impact, and I'm grateful for all of them."

Oliva, from Gardner, Mass., graduated summa cum laude in December 2024 with a degree in health sciences and is a member of the university’s Honors Program and Alpha Chi Honor Society. She conducted research on opioid use disorder during her time at Pierce and tutored students in anatomy and physiology.

In January, she will begin the Master of Physician Assistant Studies program at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. She expressed her gratitude to her professors for their mentorship and dedication, which have shaped her passion for medicine, and to her family for their love and support. She also shared a favorite personal quote by A.A. Milne to help sum up her experience at Pierce -- “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”