 Whelan earned highest departmental honors in English, and received the Henry B. Prickett English Prize for outstanding work in the English department.Whelan returned to film acting in November 2008, playing alongside Brad Dourif, Hallee Hirsh, Mackenzie Rosman and Thomas Ian Nicholas in the fantasy thriller "Fading of the Cries".The heavily special-effects-laden Brian Metcalf feature was released in 2011.