UAM Student Wins Best Paper at Alpha Chi National Convention
At the annual Alpha Chi National Convention, held in Birmingham, Alabama, from April 4 through April 6, a University of Arkansas at Monticello (UAM) English student won a national scholarship for her original scholarly paper. The convention drew student scholars and their sponsors from across the United States.
Destiny Forrest, a junior at UAM, won the Alfred H. Nolle Scholarship for her original scholarly paper she presented at the conference, titled, “Sartre’s Physical and Psychological Wall: The Philosophy of Autonomy.” Forrest wrote her paper in an advanced composition class taught by Dr. Kate Stewart, professor of English at UAM. Her paper was a literary analysis of “The Wall” by Jean-Paul Sartre, a French philosopher, that examined how Sartre incorporates his philosophical ideas into his fiction to represent the relationship between autonomy and knowledge of morality.
"I was thrilled to present at the convention with my classmates and even more so to find out I was awarded the scholarship,” Forrest remarked. “I’m very thankful to Dr. Stewart for encouraging me to submit my research paper for the scholarship and for guiding us through the convention as our chapter advisor."
Dr. Stewart commended Forrest on her accomplishment, stating, “I am incredibly proud of Destiny. The scholarship she won is highly competitive. Students submit an original scholarly paper, a faculty mentor from the student’s institution assesses the paper and a committee composed of Alpha Chi advisors from across the United States evaluates the entries and selects winners. The paper Destiny presented is one of the best that has come across my desk in Advanced Composition, and it was worthy of being recognized.”
The UAM student delegation included Destiny Forrest, an English major; Matthew Daniel Outlaw, a double major in history and political science; and Kailley White, an English major. All student presenters are from Monticello, Arkansas. Dr. Stewart serves as the sponsor of UAM’s Arkansas Zeta chapter of Alpha Chi and was recently re-elected secretary-treasurer of Region II; in the latter capacity, she will serve a four-year term on the National Council.
“These students displayed excellence in scholarship as they represented UAM at the conference,” Dr. Stewart said. “The charge to new members during induction ceremonies reminds students that ‘the spirit of scholarship will be enhanced through its representatives.’ Forrest, Outlaw and White assuredly enhanced our reputation as a viable institution of higher learning. Having a scholarship recipient adds to that luster. The Arkansas Zeta chapter continues to support service and academic excellence; we plan for further growth and development in the 2024-2025 academic year.”
According to its website, the Alpha Chi National College Honor Society "is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies, the nation’s only certifying agency for college and university honor societies” and only invites the top ten percent of eligible junior, senior and graduate students to join. Alpha Chi promotes “student creativity and research, excellence and service in action, personal growth through diversity, equipping compassionate listeners and leaders, academic and professional mentoring and making scholarship effective for good.”
The society celebrated its 102nd year in 2024. The Arkansas Zeta chapter was established at UAM in 1956. UAM’s chapter has been recognized as a Star Chapter, the highest honor a local chapter can receive, and Destiny Forrest joins a line of students from UAM who have won national and regional fellowships and scholarships for their original research.