University of Arkansas

More than 2,000 students were named to the Fall 2024 Chancellor's List in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas. To qualify for the Chancellor's List, students must achieve at least a 4.00 grade-point average for the semester while completing at least 12 credit hours. "Earning a place on the Chancellor's List is an extraordinary achievement that speaks volumes about these students' dedication to their scholarly pursuits," said Brian E. Raines, dean of the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. "This honor exhibits their unwavering commitment to reaching for the highest levels of academic success." "We also want to acknowledge the families, supporters, Fulbright College faculty and staff, and the broader University of Arkansas community, whose encouragement and guidance have been instrumental in supporting these students throughout their journey." Raines added. "We are incredibly proud of these students and their exemplary hard work and passion for learning." More than 8,000 students call Fulbright College home and are pursuing areas of study and research across the fine arts, humanities, natural sciences and social sciences. Learn more about Fulbright College at fulbright.uark.edu.

More than 1,100 students were named to the Fall 2024 Dean's List in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas. To qualify for the Dean's List, students must achieve at least a 3.75 grade-point average for the semester while completing at least 12 credit hours. "It is with great pride that we celebrate the outstanding achievements of these students who have earned a place on the Dean's List this semester," said Brian E. Raines, dean of the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. "This recognition reflects not only their academic excellence and dedication but also their resilience and commitment to learning." "We also want to recognize these students' families and supporters, the Fulbright College faculty and staff, and the wider University of Arkansas community who have all helped champion these students every step of the way on their pursuit of academic excellence," Raines added. More than 8,000 students call Fulbright College home and are pursing areas of study and research across the fine arts, humanities, natural sciences and social sciences. Learn more about Fulbright College at fulbright.uark.edu.

More than 2,700 students were named to the Spring 2024 Dean's List in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas. To qualify for the Dean's List, students must achieve at least a 3.75 grade-point average for the semester while completing at least 12 credit hours. "We are delighted to honor our outstanding students who have achieved placement on the Dean's List this semester," said Kathryn Sloan, interim dean of Fulbright College at the University of Arkansas. "Their academic excellence and dedication to our mission of advancing peace through education are truly commendable." "We also extend heartfelt appreciation to the families, friends, and Fulbright College faculty and staff whose steadfast support makes higher education a reality for our students," added Sloan. "Their encouragement is instrumental in our students' success, and we are grateful for their contributions to our community." More than 7,000 students call Fulbright College home with areas of study and research across the fine arts, humanities, natural sciences and social sciences. Learn more about Fulbright College at fulbright.uark.edu.

Alassandra Holsted, a U of A undergraduate student majoring in communication, sociology and criminology, was recently recognized as the runner-up for the prestigious Stephen A. Smith Award at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association in New Orleans, Louisiana. This award is named after the founder of Lambda Pi Eta, professor emeritus Stephen A. Smith. It is presented by NCA's Lambda Pi Eta division to honor students who exemplify academic achievement in communication studies. Holsted was honored for a competitively selected research paper presented at the conference.

Lambda Pi Eta (LPH), the honor society for communication majors in the Department of Communication in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas, held their fall 2023 Induction Ceremony on Dec. 5. LPH welcomed 43 new members in the fall 2023 cohort. Students must be invited by Jake Dionne, assistant professor of communication and LPH advisor, to become members of the honor society after meeting the academic requirements. To be invited to be a member of Lambda Pi Eta, students must have completed 60 semester credit hours with a minimum cumulative 3.0 GPA and completed 12 semester credit hours in communication studies with a minimum 3.25 GPA. Students in LPH are in the top 35% of their class and are encouraged to develop their studies through undergraduate research.

More than $4.9 million in scholarships was awarded to 1,855 scholarships to students in Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas this year. These scholarships are made possible from the support of donors, who include alumni, faculty, staff and friends of Fulbright College, and aid students across the college's four academic disciplines: arts, humanities, natural sciences and social sciences. "Fulbright College is committed to supporting our students in every way possible and in all aspects of their college experience," said Brian E. Raines, dean of Fulbright College. "We are grateful for the generosity of the college's friends and supporters, whose contributions empower us to provide the tools and resources our students need to thrive."

Main Hill Media, the student-run advertising agency, won eight awards from the Associated Collegiate Press, and Hill Magazine, the student-published feature magazine, was second nationally in best of show.

Debaters Hadley Adkison, Carter Stainton, Daisy Rehbock, Hannah Morris, Jaci Sabatini, Jonas Lansford, Matthew Cook and Megan Dial brought home four awards from a virtual tournament in late February.

Ten U of A undergraduate and graduate students have been chosen as semi-finalists for the Fulbright U.S. Student Scholarship Program at the United States level. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers two primary awards: the English Teaching Assistantship, which allows students to work as assistants to English teachers across the globe, and the Study/Research Award, which allows students to pursue graduate study or independent research at international institutions.

Breannah Small, a student of African and African American studies and journalism/political science in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, has been accepted into the American Political Science Association's Ralph Bunche Summer Institute at Duke University and a summer research program at the University of Pittsburgh.

Over several weeks during the fall 2023 semester, Andrew Ruegsegger spent much of his free time exploring a small, undeveloped area on the south end of campus in search of plants. Ruegsegger, a fourth-year undergraduate student majoring in anthropology and minoring in philosophy, biology and natural resources management at the U of A, was interested in learning more about botany, diverse native plant communities of the area and the process botanists use to document plants by collecting and preserving specimens in a herbarium.

The Service Learning Initiative highlighted the success of University of Arkansas faculty and students at the 2023-24 Outstanding Contributions to Service Learning Award Ceremony on March 11 at the Cordia Harrington Center for Excellence.

University of Arkansas students, all of whom are students in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, scored big in the Next Gen(eration) Humanities Conference poster competition in Little Rock earlier this month, winning first and second place along with honorable mention. Every U of A student who attended the conference received recognition.

The U of A Speech and Debate Society was victorious again at the University of Central Arkansas' End of Hi-Bear-Nation Debate Tournament the weekend of Feb. 2-4. The team will next travel to Dallas Baptist University the weekend of Feb. 23-25. After that, they'll compete at the online Union University tournament March 1-3, before ultimately attending the IPDA National Tournament and Convention April 12-15.

More than 300 undergraduate students earned bachelor's degrees during the fall 2023 term in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas. These graduates were celebrated on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, at commencement ceremonies in Bud Walton Arena. These undergraduate students earned their degrees in areas of study that span across one of four academic disciplines in Fulbright College: fine arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. "On behalf of our faculty, staff, and the entire U of A community, we offer you a big congratulations - you did it," said Kathryn Sloan, interim dean of Fulbright College. "You survived the late-night study sessions, the group projects, the times of uncertainty, and so much more to reach this milestone." Videos of the live-streamed commencement ceremonies are also available on the U of A's YouTube channel. Printed program books were handed out to graduates and are available online.

More than 900 undergraduate students earned nearly 1,200 bachelor's degrees this spring in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas. These graduates were celebrated on Friday, May 12, at commencement ceremonies in Bud Walton Arena. These undergraduate students earned their degrees in areas of study that span across one of four academic disciplines in Fulbright College: fine arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. "On behalf of our faculty, staff, and the entire U of A community, we offer you a big congratulations, Class of 2023 - you did it," said Kathryn Sloan, interim dean of Fulbright College. "You survived the late-night study sessions, the group projects, the times of uncertainty, and so much more to reach this milestone." The Fulbright College commencement website includes a complete list of our Spring 2023 graduates and information about our college's featured student speaker, Alex Alvarez. Videos of the live-streamed 2023 spring commencement ceremonies are also available on the U of A's YouTube channel. Printed program books were handed out to graduates and are available online.

With family and friends witnessing, the Razorback Battalion - the U of A Army ROTC - commissioned eight second lieutenants into the United States Army on Dec. 15, 2023. These second lieutenants went through at least four years of training here on campus and at various military installations throughout the country. The ceremony was held at Giffels Auditorium. The cadre at the Razorback Battalion are very proud of our newest lieutenants. They will be a great contribution to the U.S. Army.

On Saturday, Nov. 4, nine music students from the University of Arkansas' Department of Music, which is part of the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, competed at the statewide Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Competition hosted at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock. The Young Artist competition is open to students ages 19-26 who are currently enrolled in collegiate programs. The winners will have the opportunity to compete at the national level against winners from other states. "The MTNA National Competitions are the most successful and prestigious student competitions in the country," according to the organization's website. "Each year, thousands of students compete for top prizes and national recognition. The purpose of the Music Teachers National Association Performance competitions is to provide educational experiences for students and teachers and to recognize exceptionally talented young artists and their teachers in their pursuit of musical excellence."

The Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas recently named their 2023-24 Fulbright College Student Ambassadors, which is part of the college's Inclusive Excellence initiatives. The Fulbright College Student Ambassador Program, which began in 2021, selects high-achieving undergraduate students to aid the college in its recruitment efforts, student outreach programs, community engagement and professional development opportunities. The program has grown to include 15 qualified undergraduate student ambassadors for the 2023-24 academic year.

The Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences recently welcomed more than 1,800 first-year undergraduate students to the college and to the greater U of A campus community for the fall semester, adding to the 6,344-person university-wide freshman class and to the more than 32,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students at the University of Arkansas. This class marks the 151st class of freshmen welcomed to The Hill and to Fulbright College, joining the U of A from hometowns throughout Arkansas and the U.S. and across the world, to study subjects in one of Fulbright College's four academic disciplines: fine arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. "We want to welcome all incoming freshmen to the University of Arkansas, especially to the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences," said Kathryn Sloan, interim dean of Fulbright College. "We're so eager to see these students learn, research, serve, and lead during their time with us and are committed every day to their success."

Senior Grant Viscardis has been selected as the Student Leader of the Month for October 2023. Originally from Hot Springs, Viscardis came to the U of A to study biology. He is the president for EMPOWER RSO, leads the Global Brigades to Panama as the medical chairman, volunteers at the Full Circle Food Pantry, a Patient Care Technician at CHI St. Vincent Hospital in Hot Springs and is a research assistant in assistant professor Joisah Leong's FullStackNeuro Lab addressing the causation of substance use and early life stress on the mesolimbic pathway in the brain. Viscardis is also a member of the Sigma Nu Fraternity. Viscardis said he got involved in these organizations mainly to learn how to network and communicate with others while expressing his deepest passions.

Twenty-nine recently graduated Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences students were selected to be part of the U of A's latest class of top graduating seniors by the Arkansas Alumni Association. They are part of the 2023 class of 71 "Seniors of Significance" from across the U of A. "Congratulations to these new alumni on this achievement. They are among the very best of Fulbright College and embody, in so many ways, our mission of peace through education," said Kathryn Sloan, interim dean of Fulbright College. "They are leaders in their classrooms, in student government, in research, in their social circles, in their communities, and beyond," Sloan added. "As new graduates, they represent the immeasurable value of a Fulbright College degree and of higher education. These 29 students are the best of us, and we're so grateful they're part of the Fulbright College alumni family." The "Seniors of Significance" recognition is part of the Arkansas Alumni Association's Senior Awards Program, which honors students' excellence in leadership, academics and co-curricular activities. More information about the significant history and legacy of the Senior Awards Program is available at arkansasalumni.org.