It is nearly impossible to get a moment of James Hurley’s time. Whether he is spending a year studying in Oxford, running a marathon in Jerusalem or giving a presentation in Belfast, Ireland, James Hurley never stays in one place. It is no surprise that this man on the constant move was named the Class of 2012’s Valedictorian.

Only 21 years old, Hurley is the oldest of three siblings from a family in Chester. Upon arriving at Iona, Hurley immediately became involved and was seen as a leader on campus. Throughout his four years here, he has worked in Admissions and the History Department and was the Editor-in-Chief of The Ionian his sophomore year. This past fall semester he participated in Iona’s first SOLIYA Connect Political Science Professor Tricia Mulligan.

His involvement reaches far beyond Iona, though. Recently accepted to the AMENDS Conference at Stanford University, Hurley will be spending a week in San Francisco working with 20 students from the Middle East and 19 students from the United States. They will enter into a dialogue between the different cultures and develop an action plan for initiatives for positive political, social and economic change. In addition to this experience, he has published two articles during his time at Iona and has two more articles that will be published soon.

During his junior year at the University of Oxford, Hurley studied legal philosophy. He took the knowledge he learned and applied it to his Senior Honors Thesis, which focused on legal philosophy’s role in Constitutional litigation. He is passionate about the political philosophy of Hannah Arendt and intends on studying the role of court systems in post-conflict societies, with a special interest in Eastern Europe, specifically the former Yugoslavia. For graduate school, he will study these interests at either the University of Chicago or the University of Oxford.

When he is not studying or attending conferences, Hurley is traveling the world. Throughout his life, he has traveled to 22 different countries and aims to visit every one. Out of the countries he has visited so far, his top three favorite locations are: the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, Australia, the West Bank in Israel, and Paris.

“The faculty’s dedication to teaching has solidified my interest in teaching as a profession,” said Hurley when speaking about his future. Iona College provided him with an excellent opportunity for the past four years. “Iona’s location is phenomenal. The College and students needs to take more advantage of the fact that we are in New York City’s backyard,” he said.

He wants to thank Iona for creating articulate and engaged graduates, understanding the purpose of a liberal arts college. He said, “I hope Iona both continues to recognize and protect that space that liberal arts has in the 21st century.”