THE ENDEAVOR NEWSLETTER OF THE OKLAHOMA CITY UNIVERSITY HONORS PROGRAM SPRING 2016
2 Director's Corner 3–5 Celebrated Grads 6–7 Conference Quest 8 Peer Mentors Chosen 8 Student Council News 8 Field Research 9 Space Revamp 9 Research Day
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DIRECTOR’S CORNER
KAREN YOUMANS
Pictured above, center: Students visited notable sites in northwest Arkansas while attending and presenting at the Great Plains Honors Council Conference.
It’s been a full year for the OCU Honors Program as we welcomed nearly 60 new students to our ranks, settled into the Honors Hall in the Gold Star Memorial Building, and recognized 23 outstanding cum honore graduates. You can see a list of those graduates on page 3 along with the Distinguished Honors Faculty and Honors Student of the Year Award recipients. Honors students continue to distinguish themselves both in the classroom and beyond through research presentations and publications, internships, and service to the local OKC community. Some of those projects and achievements are also highlighted in the pages ahead. The Honors Hall has seen a flurry of activity throughout the year, from Friday Forums with faculty and guest speakers, to Honors Student Council parties and work days (see the recent progress on the student lounge on page 9), to informal late-night study sessions, to Undergraduate Research Day presentations. Recently, the Honors Hall hosted the annual Phi Kappa Phi induction ceremony and dinner, marking a new partnership between the nation’s oldest and most selective honor society for all academic disciplines and the OCU Honors Program to promote interdisciplinary learning, academic excellence, and student scholarship. In the next few weeks, the new classroom in the Honors Hall will be outfitted with new, modern desks and chairs to match its recently updated electronic media capabilities. This past year saw another new partnership develop between Honors and Uptown 23rd, a local non-profit committed to the revitalization of the OKC Uptown business and entertainment district, and whose executive director is OCU Honors alumna Christina Mallory Chicoraske. Dr. Brooke Hessler’s Honors Comp I class last fall began work in earnest with the organization through a beautification service day, a community needs assessment assignment, and a research project that studied figures of significance in the history of the Uptown District. We plan to continue to develop this partnership through our freshmen honors classes and a revamped honors orientation program. This new orientation program will be designed and implemented in large part by our first group of Honors Peer Mentors, a group of sophomores through seniors who have been selected based on their exemplary academic work, their commitment to the Honors Program’s co-curricular activities, and their interest in helping new Honors students transition to college life. Not only will the mentors play a significant role in running orientation, they will also serve as mentors to groups of new students throughout the freshman year. We look forward to bringing you more information about these new partnerships and programs in the fall 2016 Endeavor. Dr. Youmans
STAY CONNECTED facebook.com/ocuhonors 2
okcu.edu/academics/honors
CLASS OF 2016 Congratulations to the following students who graduated cum honore from Oklahoma City University in spring 2016. The Honors Program celebrated their accomplishments during the annual Senior Dinner at Picasso Cafe, where seniors received their honors graduation certificates and sashes to be worn at graduation. Dr. Dave Easley received the Honors Distinguished Faculty Award and senior Rileigh Darby-McClure received the Outstanding Honors Student of the Year Award. Kristine Bachicha Dance Management
Chance Johnson Political Science
Ronald Brown Cell and Molecular Biology
Erin Langer English
Angela Clifton Biomedical Science
London Long-Wheeler Vocal Performance
Brooke Crutchfield Economics and Finance
Erin McCoy Biology
Rileigh Darby-McClure Cell and Molecular Biology
Hannah McCue Acting
Colin Earle Environmental Science
Elanor Nason Economics and Finance
Emma Gassett Dance
David Pham Software Engineering
Selena Gilliam Vocal Performance
Katie Schneider Dance Management
Stephen Good Psychology
Dylan Smith-Sutton Biomedical Science
MaryAnn Grover Marketing
Lydia Wagner Music Theatre
Sophia Hackney Cell and Molecular Biology
Damaila Young Nursing
Outstanding Honors Student of the Year Rileigh Darby-McClure
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CLASS OF 2016
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GPHC 2016 Honors students Arrash Allahyar, Lauren Branum, Colin Earle, Eric Odum, Minh Ton, and Patience Williams, along with honors Director Karen Youmans and Assistant Director Marc DiPaolo attended the Great Plains Honors Council Conference at John Brown University in the Ozarks of Northwest Arkansas. Patience presented a critical analysis of character depth in D.H. Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers. Lauren hosted a discussion about misconceptions in environmental education as well as current and future projects in the field. Arrash presented his capstone
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presentation about tardigrades being model organisms for astrobiological research. Students also attended field excursions focused on different disciplines and saw various sites, including the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the Frank Lloyd Wright’s design home, and the Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel. The conference concluded with a formal dinner and a speech by the best-selling author David Burkus. Next year’s GPHC conference will be hosted by Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas.
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HONORS PEER MENTORS Congratulations to Aaron Noreiga, Thomas Hoblin, Joshua Hertz, Eric Odum, Raechael Bachhofer, Noelle Bradley, and Elizabeth Wasson for being selected to serve as peer mentors to the honors freshman class of 2016. Peer mentors will work closely with the honors director and assistant
director in planning and facilitating honors orientation. Additionally, each mentor will be assigned a small group of freshmen students which they will build relationships with over the year and help them acclimate to OCU and college life in general.
HONORS STUDENT COUNCIL UPDATE Hello Honors students! My name is Sylvia Hayes and I will be the Honors Student Council president next year. Already, I have heard several great ideas for Honors activities and events, and I am excited about what we can do together. I am hoping to get as many students involved next year as possible. Personally, I have been participating in HSC since I was a freshman and what I love most about HSC is the availability for anybody in Honors to get involved and take on as much or as little responsibility as they want. I hope to see you next year at our meetings! We have plenty of opportunity for participation, and I would love your help even if it’s just making a run to pick up chips and guac before a party or contributing ideas for events. More information about joining HSC will come in the fall. For now, have an amazing summer! Sylvia Hayes
MAMMAL ECOLOGY STUDY Senior honors student Sophia Hackney worked with zoology professor Anthony Stancampiano in conducting a small mammal ecological study at John Nichols Scout Ranch in southeastern Canadian County, Oklahoma, during the summers of 2013 and 2014. The study was on the microhabitat preferences of Peromyscus leucopus, Peromyscus maniculatus, Neotoma floridana, and Sigmodon hispidus. Their work was published in the Oklahoma Academy of Science research journal.
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REVAMPING THE HONORS HALL It has been almost a year since the Honors Program has moved into its official space in the Gold Star Memorial Building. Though the space was completely empty at first, the shelves are now filled with books and large study tables have been placed in the central space. Additionally, more furniture will be moved in next semester and many of the Honors classes being offered will be taught in the newly renovated classroom. However, the biggest change in the Honors Hall has occurred in the student lounge. Honors executive committee members Eric Odum, Rileigh Darby-McClure, Sylvia Hayes, Adrienne Pierce, and Arrash Allahyar helped revamp the entire lounge. They painted a mural of Downtown OKC and created a chalkboard wall for students to express themselves. A map of the U.S. and the world has also been put up so students can pin their home states and places they have visited across the globe.
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH DAY WINNERS Students submitted their research to Undergraduate Research Day to be judged by members of the Oklahoma City University faculty. Of the 26 participants, three winners were selected to receive a cash prize. The winning entrants were: PowerPoint Presentation Rileigh Darby-McClure “The Regulation of the GABAB Receptor Under Conditions of Cerebral Ischemia” Humanities Research Paper Matthew Hester “The Dog, the Human, and the Quest: Adventure Time and Fairy Tales” Science Research Paper Sophia Hackney “The Immunosuppresive Effects of Morphine”
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