Jessica Collier - Senior Thesis - MSSU Honors Program from MSSU Honors on Vimeo.

Mariya Gavrilova selected Outstanding Student Leader

Mariya Gavrilova, Bulgaria, was named Leader of the Year at the 17th Annual Glenn Dolence Leadership & Service Awards ceremony. With Mariya is President Speck (left) and Dr. Glenn Dolence (right). University Relations & Marketing Photo Click the title to view the news release.

Honors Scholars = Track Stars!

Quotes from the Joplin Globe, www.joplinglobe.com, April 26, 2008:

An unseasonably cold day with a biting north wind doesn’t make for ideal conditions in a track and field meet.

But one event which isn’t affected by such conditions is the hammer throw. And a pair of Missouri Southern athletes make major strides in the hammer Friday [April 25] during the Bill Williams/Bob Laptad Invitational at Fred G. Hughes Stadium.

Senior Jessica Selby-Tallman continued to extend her school record, surpassing 190 feet for the first time in competition. Her winning throw was 193-6, more than three feet beyond the previous best Division II mark in the nation this spring.

Selby-Tallman broke her week-old school record of 187-7 in winning the hammer.

Nicole Green, a freshman from Carthage who is redshirting this season, finished third in the shot put while competing unattached. Her throw of 41-83/4 was a personal best by about three feet, Tallman said.

Selby-Tallman won the shot with a throw of 49-61/2.

Olga Bulgurova showed improvement while placing fourth in the 1,500.

Quotes from April 19:

Missouri Southern athletes continue to rewrite the record books.

Two more track and field marks fell late Thursday night and Friday [April 17-18].

Senior Jessica Selby-Tallman erased her own year-old record in the hammer throw on Friday at the University of Central Missouri’s Mule Relays.

Southern runners finished 3-4 in the men’s division of the 10K at Kansas. Sophomore Brennan Benkert was third in 30:04.46 and senior Ryan Arthur was fourth in 31:06.09.

Benkert’s time is a provisional qualifying mark for the nationals.

Selby-Tallman had already clinched a return trip to nationals in both the shot and hammer. She had a convincing victory in the hammer on Friday, with a throw of 187 feet, 5 inches.

Her old record, set a year ago, was 185-01/2

Southern Spotlight

The Honors Director, Michael Garoutte, was interviewed by Kevin Greim on Southern Spotlight, a radio show aired at halftime of Southern's football games. This interview aired in October 2007. Click on the title to download an mp3.

New Directors for the Program

Change is the order of the year at Missouri Southern. The institution is currently searching for a new president and academic vice president. And after Dr. Patricia Kluthe retired in May and Dr. Jeff Martinek took a position at Iowa Wesleyan University in August, new Directors were selected for the Honors Program.

This blog has been dormant since the changeover, mainly because we were expecting to be able to move to a new website hosted at MSSU. But that has not happened, so I'm resurrecting the meta-blog. If you're reading this, feel free to post a comment to let us know that you were here.

And Honors Scholars, send your important info, updates, travelogues from abroad, and other honors to us at the Honors office, preferably by email, so that we can tell the world!

Wallace named Outstanding Graduate of MSSU

Sarah Wallace

Sarah Wallace of Branson has been named the 2007 “Outstanding Graduate” by the Missouri Southern Alumni Association. The award was formally presented at the Honors Convocation on Tuesday, May 1 in Taylor Performing Arts Center.

Wallace is a senior Spanish Education major and Mathematics Education major. She has a 4.0 cumulative Grade Point Average in her double major.

Lee Pound, Alumni Director, says Outstanding Graduates are selected on the basis of superior involvement and leadership on campus and in the community, as well as high academic achievements and respect received from students, faculty and staff.

Wallace, a 2003 Branson High school graduate is the only senior member of this year’s women’s track and field team at MSSU. She is a member of Spanish Club, Kappa Mu Epsilon, Kappa Delta Pi and Alpha Chi.

After graduation, Sarah plans to pursue a Master’s degree in Spanish at the University of Kansas. She is the daughter of Rusty and Debby Wallace of Branson and the granddaughter of Lovice Wallace of Mt. Home, Ark.

An Honors Story - Part 4

An Honors Story - Part 3

An Honors Story - Part 2

An Honors Story part 1

Here is part one of Jim Spena's epic masterpiece "An Honors Story," starring Will Lynch. Jim wrote, shot, and edited this film---which shows one day in the life of a typical Honors student---at the request of the MSSU Honors directors. We couldn't be more delighted by how it turned out. As far as we're concerned, Jim's a genius and Will's a star!

Parts 2,3, and 4 will be posted as well.