C-N students earn Alpha Chi scholarship awards

^{Carson-Newman University students, from left, Thomas Fodor, Rachel Langley and Eli Wolfenbarger join C-N professors Kelli Williams and Kip Wheeler and Alpha Chi student president Gabriel Reed at the Alpha Chi National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.}

(May 6, 2019) JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — Students in Carson-Newman University’s Tennessee Delta chapter of Alpha Chi brought home several awards for their outstanding presentations at this year’s Alpha Chi National Convention.

The convention took place in Cleveland, Ohio, April 4-7.

Students came from over 300 Alpha Chi chapters and 40 different states to present their scholarship and compete for a variety of prizes.

Five Carson-Newman students competed, and three brought home awards:

• Senior Katie Seale, of New Market, won a $3,000 scholarship in the Sledge-Benedict Fellowship competition for her honors project, “Assessment of Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha, Interleukin-1, and Interferon Gamma Receptors and Sensors for Cytokine Storms.” The Sledge-Benedict Fellowships are the most prestigious award categories Alpha Chi gives to undergraduates going on to graduate school.

• Junior Thomas Fodor, of Talbott, won one of the two $1,000 scholarships in the Region III competition for junior students for his paper, “Nosferatu and The Last Laugh: Representations of Bourgeois Experiences of Weimar Cultural Conflicts.” Region III awards are multidisciplinary scholarships granted to the best paper out of all junior projects in the Southeastern United States.

• Senior Gabriel Reed, of New Market, won a $100 award for best creative writing presentation for his honors project, “St. Augustine Theologizes My Boxers: An Excerpt from Homophany: A Theological Magic Realist Novella,” which was supervised by Dr. Susan Underwood.

Additionally, Eli Wolfenbarger, of Knoxville, presented “Fleeing from Hong Kong: Imperialism and Its Discontents,” and Rachel Langley, of Bethpage, presented “Sound Effects: Harmony Between Music and Health.” Both students are juniors.

“These fine Carson-Newman students represented us in fields as diverse as music therapy, film criticism, creative writing, biology and colonial history,” said Dr. Kip Wheeler, associate professor of English and the University’s Alpha Chi sponsor. “One of the strengths of our local chapter is the wide array of majors Carson-Newman offers, which makes us very competitive at the Alpha Chi National Convention.”

Collectively, Carson-Newman’s students won a $100 team presentation prize for hosting a chapter-strengthening session, “Gold Stars and Gold Seals: Getting AX Members Involved.”

Moreover, Wheeler was elected to the Alpha Chi National Council as a council member at-large. He will serve in the position for four years.

Alpha Chi is a national coeducational academic honor society. Since 1922 Alpha Chi’s purpose has been to promote academic excellence and exemplary character among college and university students and to honor those who achieve such distinction.

Founded in 1851, Carson-Newman is a Christian liberal arts university located in Jefferson City, Tennessee, among the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. The University has over 2,500 students and offers 50 undergraduate majors, as well as associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees.