2015 Spring Honors Engagement Opportunities

It has been a busy semester. Let us know what events were most meaningful to you, Honorables! (Click on the "# comment" box at the bottom of this post.)

If you attended an ECU-sponsored academic, fine arts, or cultural event on campus this spring that is not listed here, let us know!

1.        January 20:  MLK Celebration in the Estep

2.        January 20 and Wednesday, January 21:  Honors Lunch in the Taff Cafeteria.

3.        January 20:  Meet with Joy Hofmeister, new State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

4.        January 22: Research Workshop #4

5.        January 23: Second City Hits Home (2 points)

6.        January 27: Watkins Lecture (Aradhna Pillai)

7.        January 29: Tri-Beta Presents: What to Expect in Med School and Dental School

8.        January 29: Ramadan Research Symposium (2 points)

9.        January 29: A Very Chorale Valentines

Outstanding Seniors

ECU has about 4,500 students. Four of them were named finalists for the George Nigh Award for Outstanding Seniors. Each fall, about thirty incoming first-year students are accepted into ECU's Honors Program. In 2015, three of the four finalists for the George Nigh Award started in ECU's Honors Program.

Congratulations to graduating Honors senior Kendall Dobbs, a Nigh Award Finalist.

Congratulations to graduating Honors senior Allie Barton, a Nigh Award Winner.

Honorably done.

2015: Awards Banquet

Graduating seniors on the front row, from left to right are: Rachel Nicholas, Kendall Dobbs, Charlotte May, Caitlin Maddox, and Laura Asaro. On the second row, from left to right: Catherine Phipps, Bethany Ragle, Cerina Stiles, Sadie Woodruff, John Dale, Nik Razo, and Melissa Pope (not pictured: Taylor Glasco)

EQ Award winners on the front row, from left to right are: Leah Blackburn, Ashton Mayle, Sidney Lewis, Kaitlyn Stevens, Madison Camp. On the second row, from left to right: Dr. Ken Andrews (Honors , Darby Heard, Dylan West, Dillon Rea, Brittany Jolly, Ashley Huhman, Linzi Thompson, and Nathan Starry.


Dr. Katricia Pierson, Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dr. Taryn Chubb, Honors Faculty (Non-Western Humanities, Spring 2015)

Dr. Houston Mount, Honors Student Association Faculty Advisor

Dr. Sarah Peters, Honors Faculty (Non-Western Humanities, Spring 2015) and Dr. Ken Andrews, Honors Faculty (Sciences, Spring 2015)

Dr. Rebecca Nicholson-Weir, Honors Faculty (Rhetoric and Research, Spring 2015)and Dr. Jennifer McMahon, Honors Faculty (Western Humanities, Fall 2014)


Dr. Duane Anderson. Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost and Dr. Steve Benton, Honors Director

Erin Awtrey, Honors Student Association Vice President,  and Chelsi Norris, HSA President


Madison Camp, First-Year Classroom Leader Award; Linzi Thompson, Campus Engagement Award.
Ashley Huhman, Thomas-King Honors Scholarship; Brittany Jolly, Second-Year Classroom Leadership and Second-Year Writing Awards.

Kaitlyn Stevens, First-Year Writing Award; Nathan Starry, First-Year Classroom Leadership Award

Dylan West, First-Year Classroom Leadership Award; Ashton Mayle, First-Year Classroom Leadership Award.
 
Leah Blackburn, First-Year Writing Award; Sidney Lewis, First-Year Writing Award

Dillon Rea, First-Year Classroom Leadership Award; Dr. Ken Andrews, 2015 Honors Teacher of the Year

2015 Spring Showcase

From top to bottom;  on the left:  Ashley Huhman, Chase Tillar, Rachel Nicholas, John Dale, Zach Garcia, and Darby Heard; in the middle:  Linzi Thompson, Melody Dunn, Anna Talkington, Bethany Ragle, Caitlin Maddox, and Catherine Phipps; on the right: Cerina Stiles, Marissa Hinton, Sadie Woodruff, Taylor Glasco, Nik Razo, Laura Asaro, and Melissa Pope.

HONORS SUPER SHOWCASE

Tuesday, April 21, 2015 at 3:30 p.m.

We Got Next!

The Incoming Honors Student Association Executive Council From L to R: President Brittany Jolly, Interim Vice President Nathan Starry, Secreatry Dillon Rea, Treasurer Talor Stewart, Historian Ashley Houchin, Vice President Linzi Thompson

At tonight's Honors Pizza Feed and Caucus,we introduce the incoming 2015-2016 Honors Student Association Executive Council officers (see above) and invited them to give impromptu speeches (they did well). We also listened to words of wisdom from some of our outgoing officers, we ate a lot of San Remo's pizza, and we took a lot of pizza home. We completed the Honors Survey and Suggestion Box, took an inventory of our engagement points and community service hours for this semester, and scored two engagement points,

We also signed up twelve  sixteen new branch leaders!  They are: Mariah Brooks, Madison Camp, Maranda Clymer, Allyson Greogry, Sean Jesse, Sidney Lewis, Ashton Mayle, Miranda McNabb, Krysten Mills, Elsa Moseley, Maddie Oehlberg, Holly Salem, Kaitlyn Stevens, CJ Taylor, Dylan West. Thanks for stepping up, guys!  And if you're interested in joining their ranks, e-mail Dr. Benton.

Finally, we voted on the 2015 Honors SummerRead. And the winner is . . . click here for the answer.

The 2015 Honors SummerRead

The featured speaker at last December's Honors Laude Dinner was Casey Cassidy, who graduated from East Central University with a Bachelors of Science in Nursing with Scholastic Honors in 2008, Since graduating, Casey has specialized in Medical-Surgical Nursing while practicing at Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City, OK. She has worked in nursing education for the last 4 years and obtained her Masters of Science in Nursing Education from Oklahoma Baptist University in 2012. She currently works as an assistant professor at Southern Nazarene University and is in the process of starting a PhD in Nursing. She has spoken at various nursing conferences and in 2014 she was recognized as one of the "Great 100 Nurses of Oklahoma.".

Casey recommended a book to us: Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. Tonight, it received more votes than any other book on the ballot for the 2015 Honors SummerRead.

At the end of June, we expect to unveil the SummerRead questions. While you're waiting for those to come out, you may want to click here to read the New York Times review of this highly recommended book.  Or here to read a review in the New York Times's Sunday Book Review.

Roary Remembers

Just two days ago, Roary was here on the beach at South Padre Island, reflecting back on the many enlightening presentations he'd heard ECU Honors students make at the 2015 Great Plains Honors Conference.

And then there was Lockhart

The Barbecue Capital of Texas.
Question: How much barbecue does it take to feed fourteen Honorables and one Roamin' Roary at Smitty's Barbecue in Lockhart?
Answer: Twelve sausages, two pounds of ribs, and three and a half pounds of sliced brisket.
And some had ice cream afterwards.

Who ate all that?
Who looked at picture of themselves looking at pictures of themselves? Who is doing it now? If it's you, be sure to take a picture.
  Honorable hoodlums, blocking the sidewalks at Love's, harassing passersby with references to classical philosophers: roll call!

Honorable favorites: sea turtles (Sidney), the beach (Leah), presenting and representing (Dylan), night beach walk (Ashton), "Denny's!"/Standing up to the Waves/Scraping knees?(Nathan), meeting and interacting with other Great Plains Honors students (Dillon), building Tupac the Sand Turtle (Kaitlyn), Parrot Eyes (Madison), swimming in the ocean and collecting sea shells (Elsa), the Honors Beach Dance Party (Linzi).

Honorably favorite eats:
The Iron Cactus on the Riverwalk in San Antonio: smoked chicken enchiladas (Dylan and Sidney), chile relleno (Dillon), fajitas (Ashton),
Smitty's in Lockhart: Brisket (Leah and Elsa)
Parrot Eyes on South Padre Island: oyster tacos (Madison and Nathan), shrimp fajitas (Kaitlyn)
Cap'n Roy's on South Padre: stuffed crab (Linzi)

Honorable firsts: feeding sea turtles (Sidney, Leah, Linzi, Elsa), parasailing (Elsa and Linzi), the Alamo (Sidney, Leah, Elsa, Linzi) and the Riverwalk (Dillon), the Ocean (Kaitlyn), making a presentation at an academic conference (Sidney, Leah, Madison, Dylan), visiting an island (Sidney, Leah, Kaitlyn, Elsa), Babe's Cafe (Leah), a night walk on the beach (Dillon and Dylan), inadvertently stepping on a jellyfish and popping it (Dillon), swimming in the ocean (Ashton), moderating an academic conference panel (Nathan), Parrot Eyes (Madison), swimming in a glow-in-the-dark pool (Elsa), a live Mariachi band (Linzi).

Honorable prediction:
Great Plains Honors Conference in Northwest Arkansas in April 2015.
Cornbread Angelo's in Purcell--the Heart of Oklahoma!--in April 2025.
Someone will fall in love with Eufala soon and sing about it.

Last Honorable Beach Walk