Among the more than 650 students who graduated from Neumann University last Saturday were some undergraduate trailblazers. Eleven students received the first degrees in Social Work ever awarded by the university, and five of them are residents of Delaware County.

The Delco graduates are:

• Carla D’Angelo (Media)
• Amirah Guerrero (Aldan)
• Kezia Mathew (Lansdowne)
• Laila Sheriff (Upper Darby)
• Nicole Strofe (Drexel Hill)

All are students who were already at Neumann when the program launched and who changed majors to study Social Work.

“These students saw Social Work as an opportunity and a good fit for them,” said Andrea Murphy, the program director who came to Neumann to start the major in the fall of 2015.

Murphy and Rina Keller, director of field placement, provided the academic and practical experience that resulted in five of the 11 graduates securing full-time jobs in the field and five others gaining admission to graduate school programs before they graduated.

During the first three years of the major, Murphy and Keller also achieved program accreditation from the Council on Social Work Education.

Field placements for the students were at organizations like Delaware County Children and Youth Services, Chester Community Charter School, the Domestic Violence Center of Chester County, and Catholic Social Services.