2023 End of the Year Party: Student Award Winners

The UCA English Department held its second annual end of the year party on Thursday, April 20, 2023. Our faculty, staff, and students gathered at the home of President Houston Davis and Professor Jenny Segrest Davis to celebrate English’s Academic Year 2022-2023 student award winners.
This year’s award winners, all of whom appear below with Dr. Katherine Conley, are:

Outstanding Sophomore: Madeline Koger

Eugene Nolte Award winners: Kristína Jones and Faith Mott

Outstanding Senior: Sumer Brown

Outstanding Graduate Student: Claya Davis

From Left to Right: Faith Mott, Sumer Brown, Dr. Katherine Conley, Claya Davis, Madeline Koger, Kristína Jones

In addition, the department gave special recognition to Robert Hall, who completed his MA in English in Summer 2022. Robert is now Professor Hall, teaching in the department, while also serving as Graduation Auditor at UCA. He recently learned from the UCA Graduate School that he won the MA Thesis of the Year Award. Pictured below with his thesis advisor, Dr. Ty Hawkins, Robert completed a thesis called, “Reading through Narration: Tracing American Myths in Hemingway, Cather, and Chopin.” Drs. Lori Leavell and Michael Schaefer served as readers on the project.

Robert Hall and Dr. Ty Hawkins

Last, but certainly not least, we had several students officially welcomed into Sigma Tau Delta, the English student fraternity. Dr. Dwayne Coleman, the faculty sponsor of UCA’s Sigma chapter, did the honors of announcing eligible students.

Congrats to this year’s new Sigma Tau Delta members:

 Madeline Koger, Taylor Lawrence, Colby Derr, Jacob Rodriguez, Molly Harrel, Faith Mott, Erica Hurst

Left to Right: Madeline Koger, Taylor Lawrence, Colby Derr, Dr. Dwayne Coleman, Jacob Rodriguez, Molly Harrel, Faith Mott, Erica Hurst

The whole of the English Department is so thankful to the Davises for welcoming and spending time with us. We are likewise thankful to UCA’s indefatigable Director of Special Events Justin Hoadley for realizing a beautiful garden-party theme.

Here’s to another wonderful academic year filled with scholastic accomplishment and fellowship.