University of Arkansas

The Spanish section of the Department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures at the University of Arkansas welcomed the arrival of eight new graduate students from across the globe. The class of 2027 is the largest cohort in Spanish in the past decade. This demonstrates the Spanish department's faculty's continued support of student success and the U of A's increasing visibility as a world-class educational institution for literary and cultural studies in Spanish.

For the past three years, the Golden Cardinal search has been a staple for A-Week participants. A small, three-pound metal cardinal is hidden on campus, and a new clue is published each day of A-Week, leading students one step closer to finding it. This year, the Golden Cardinal was hidden in the brush at the bottom of the Garland Parking Garage and found by freshmen Andrea Sikora and Katie Tucker.

Samuel Ajala, a graduate student at the University of Arkansas Department of Communication, has been selected as National Communication Association 2025 Interest Group Award winner. He has been awarded the 2025 Activism and Social Justice Division Graduate Student Activist Award for his research and advocacy work in environmental communication, which is deeply rooted in community engagement.

The University of Arkansas Honors College selected 100 exceptional high school students, including 91 from Arkansas, to receive Honors College Fellowships, which award up to $80,000, largely to cover tuition, fees, books, room and board, and other academic expenses over four years, providing these students the freedom to pursue original research, study abroad, service learning and other academic interests.

Deborah Olubanjo, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Poultry Science at the University of Arkansas, earned first place in the Foodborne Pathogens & Contaminants in Animal-Based Products category at the 17th Annual Arkansas Association for Food Protection (AAFP) meeting in Fayetteville.

Drew Holland, a recent graduate from Greenwood High School, was awarded the Black and Reeder Scholarship and will pursue a degree in biomedical engineering in the College of Engineering at the University of Arkansas. The scholarship is gifted from U of A alumni Sherman Black and Lynnette Reeder Black and is awarded to a Greenwood High School student seeking a degree in engineering or business at the University of Arkansas.

The International Students Organization at the University of Arkansas announces its new executive board for the 2025-26 academic year. Throughout the 2025-26 term, the ISO executives plan to create educational events, cultural exchange, fun activities, and networking opportunities for international students. For more information on how to get involved with ISO or to learn more about upcoming initiatives, please contact the board at iso@uark.edu.

Five University of Arkansas students - Kate Tandy, Maddie Gwinner, Reece Boykin, Chasmitha Batta and Camryn Christ - represented the university at the 2025 BridgeUSA Summit in Indianapolis, Indiana. The annual summit brings together student leaders from across the country to exchange ideas on fostering constructive political dialogue and building more inclusive campus communities.

The University of Arkansas had a strong showing at the 2025 Missouri Valley District Institute of Transportation Engineers (MOVITE) Fall Meeting in Des Moines. MOVITE represents transportation professionals across six states: Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma. The organization was chartered in 1951, and the University of Arkansas student chapter joined in 1993.

Tanmaie Kalapala, a University of Arkansas poultry science Ph.D. student, has been awarded a Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education 2025 Graduate Student Grant. This grant is awarded to graduate students at accredited institutions across the Southern region to conduct research projects on a wide variety of sustainable agriculture production, marketing and social science topics.

Fluency in world languages can open doors around the globe, and for two University of Arkansas honors engineering students, the International Engineering Program did more than provide a global education in Germany; it led them to a dream internship at Porsche's Development Centre near Stuttgart.

The University of Arkansas student chapter of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) received the Magna Cum Laude award for their work during the 2024-25 academic year.

With a background in exercise physiology research at the University of Arkansas and over a decade of experience in strength training, PJ Koopmans found himself interested in learning more about muscle function in the context of exercise, aging and disease.

Six graduate students in the Master of Public Administration program at the University of Arkansas have been named recipients of the prestigious Raymond W. Gosack Scholarship for the 2025-26 academic year: Megan Zingerman, Domingo Feliz Carela, Sydney Buffalo, Rachel Britton, Andrew Guegan and Annette Nyoni.

Rachel Siemens, a graduate student in the Communication Sciences and Disorders Program within the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas, has been awarded the Benjamin Franklin Lever Tuition Fellowship. This fellowship recognizes graduate students who contribute to the university community through their diverse backgrounds and insights while demonstrating academic excellence and professional growth.

The Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas recently honored 120 students with scholarships and other awards through its 2025 Honors and Awards Recognition program. This year, more than $288,000 was distributed through scholarships and awards that recognized various aspects of achievement among students in architecture, landscape architecture, and interior architecture and design.

The Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas recently honored 120 students with scholarships and other awards through its 2025 Honors and Awards Recognition program. This year, more than $288,000 was distributed through scholarships and awards that recognized various aspects of achievement among students in architecture, landscape architecture and interior architecture and design.

Wendell Scales, a University of Arkansas doctoral student in Bumpers College's agricultural, food and life sciences program, was one of eight students from across the country selected to present at the first Farm Foundation Round Table meeting led entirely by Ph.D. students. Scales, whose Ph.D. concentration is agricultural leadership, brought a distinct voice rooted in community, youth development and the urgent need to reimagine how the next generation of agricultural leaders is prepared.

At the mention of Rome, Italy, the taste of gelato, the sight of the Colosseum and the smell of freshly made pizza probably spring to mind. But for students and faculty at the University of Arkansas Rome Center, Italy's capital city means more than these top-of-mind tourist tropes. Instead, it's an educational hub centered in a city more than 2,000 years old, with access to remarkable architecture, extraordinary art and the opportunity for cultural immersion.

Two fourth-year students in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the U of A, Cassie Roberts and Olivia Everett, have each been awarded $30,000 from the Angelo Donghia Foundation, the most prestigious scholarship in interior design education. Founded by the late international interior designer Angelo Donghia, the foundation is a non-profit organization that promotes design education.

University of Arkansas Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness graduate student Cris Caballero has been elected as the 2025-26 MANRRS Region V graduate vice president. Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting academic and professional advancement by empowering minorities in agriculture, natural resources and related sciences.

Nicole Turner, a second-year graduate student in the Communication Sciences and Disorders Program at the University of Arkansas, was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Lever Tuition Fellowship, which celebrates graduate students who enrich the U of A's community through their diverse perspectives and experiences, as well as supporting their academic endeavors.

Graduate students in the Master of Public Administration program at the University of Arkansas have been awarded the prestigious Hugh T. Henry Memorial Scholarship for the 2024-25 academic year: Andrew Guegan, Annette Nyoni and Domingo A. Feliz Carela.

The Department of Geosciences at the University of Arkansas awarded $153,900 in scholarships to students for the 2025-26 academic year. This sum will be awarded to 26 undergraduates and 33 graduate students. Scholarships are provided by 33 endowed scholarships that support geographers, geologists and earth scientists throughout the department.

Two University of Arkansas School of Journalism and Strategic Media students spent the summer at the Dow Jones News Fund as data journalism interns. Cooper Gant and Sophia Nabours were among 81 students chosen from more than 1,000 applicants, who were offered training and paid internships.

Civil engineering students from the University of Arkansas received high honors at the 2025 Texas Asphalt Pavement Association Asphalt Road-Eo event in Buda, Texas. The U of A team placed first in the rutting category and fourth overall at the regional competition.

Six University of Arkansas students have been named Graduate Entrepreneurial Fellows, who will pursue intensive entrepreneurial training across diverse industries, including biomedical engineering, food science, information systems and finance. Led by the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the fellowship program aims to support promising graduate students from all disciplines in their pursuit of scalable, technology-based ventures.

VOICES, the vocal jazz ensemble at the University of Arkansas, won the a cappella VoiceJam Festival Competition at the Walton Arts Center. VOICES rose to the top of the scoreboard and triumphed over groups that included the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; the University of North Texas; and the University of Houston.

Isabelle "Izzy" Artnak, an honors student at the University of Arkansas, is the recipient of this year's Ali Arguello Service Award. Majoring in supply chain management with a minor in finance at the Sam M. Walton College of Business, Artnak has demonstrated an exceptional commitment to serving others.

University of Arkansas poultry science students Eniola Betiku, Seth Adesope, Luke Parisi and Adeola Abe were honored with Certificates of Excellence in Oral Presentation Awards for their research presentations at the 2025 Poultry Science Association Annual Meeting, held July 14-17, 2025, in Raleigh, North Carolina.