CONWAY, Ark. (April
6, 2022) – Thirty-four first-year Hendrix College students selected for the Murphy Scholars Program were formally
inducted into the program at a ceremony held the evening of March 31, 2022. It
was the first in-person induction since March 2019, with the previous two
cohorts being initiated virtually due to pandemic restrictions.
Murphy Scholars explore literature and
language at a more intensive level by participating in designated study,
travel, research, and service experiences in literature and language during
their sophomore, junior, and senior years at Hendrix. The program is open to
students of all majors; this year’s cohort includes students majoring in 16
unique areas of study.
Seventeen
percent of the first-year Hendrix College Class of 2025 applied to the program,
and more than half of those applicants were selected as Murphy Scholars.
“Again, this was
a strong and diverse pool of applicants,” said Hope Coulter, director of the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation
Programs in Literature and Language, which developed and oversees the Murphy
Scholars Program. “They had great references from faculty members who’ve
gotten to know them this year. Some of the new Scholars have very specific
interests in literature and language—spoken-word poetry, for instance, or
learning Chinese, Tamil, or Romanian—and some are impassioned about reading and
literature in a more general way.”
The Class of 2025 Murphy Scholars in
Literature and Language are:
- Janiya Ashford
of Sherwood, Arkansas (health sciences major)
- Sydney Austen of North Little Rock, Arkansas
(English-creative writing major)
- Dani Brumbelow
of Bentonville, Arkansas (politics major with a minor in Chinese)
- Chiara Bunting
of Conway, Arkansas (English-literary studies major)
- Laysha Cervantes
of Little Rock, Arkansas (health sciences major)
- Annie Crouch of Fayetteville,
Arkansas (psychology major)
- Erin DeWald of Hanover,
Pennsylvania (chemistry major)
- Dominic Diamond
of Sherwood, Arkansas (interdisciplinary: communications major)
- Ta'Mya Dotson of
Marianna, Arkansas (health sciences major)
- Owen Edgington
of Austin, Texas (undecided)
- Ryan Fuller of Rochester,
Illinois (English-film studies major with a minor in data analytics)
- Kimber Hageman
of Austin, Texas (health sciences major)
- Marleigh Hayes
of Fayetteville, Arkansas (English-literary studies major)
- Kate Jackson of Little
Rock, Arkansas (biochemistry/molecular biology major)
- Tillie Lefforge
of Fayetteville, Arkansas (English-creative writing major)
- Sierra Lubetkin
of Ann Arbor, Michigan (biochemistry/molecular biology major)
- Mabrey Matz of McKinney,
Texas (English-literary studies major)
- Charlotte
McCombs of Fayetteville, Arkansas (English-literary studies major with a minor
in politics)
- Brynna Moslander
of Paragould, Arkansas (double major in computer science and music)
- Yahir Muñoz of Rogers, Arkansas (double major
in economics & business and Spanish)
- Eliana Oden of Searcy,
Arkansas (physics major)
- Lily Parson of Little
Rock, Arkansas (history major)
- Sofia Perez of Austin,
Texas (health sciences major)
- Vincenzo Redditt
of Conway, Arkansas (anthropology major)
- Emma Riordan of North
Little Rock, Arkansas (biochemistry/molecular biology major)
- Malcolm Rose of Hot
Springs, Arkansas (sociology major)
- Emma
Sampson-Green of New Orleans, Louisiana (biochemistry/molecular biology major)
- Margaret
Sampson-Green of New Orleans, Louisiana (politics major)
- Rayan Shuja of Russellville,
Arkansas (undecided)
- Shermar Simmons
of Little Rock, Arkansas (psychology major)
- Lindsey Stevens
of Tulsa, Oklahoma (English-creative writing major)
- Exavier Wells of
Hot Springs, Arkansas (politics major)
- Zachary West of Arkadelphia,
Arkansas (chemistry major)
- Jaden Wilber of Little
Rock, Arkansas (psychology major with a minor in social justice)
All Murphy Scholars will graduate with
distinction, having completed an Oxford-style tutorial course in language and
literature and three of the Murphy Scholar Program’s approved co-curricular
experiences in literature and language.
See more photos from the induction ceremony and
reception
About the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation
Hendrix-Murphy
Programs enrich the study of literature
and language for Hendrix College as a whole as well as for students with
intensive interest in those areas. The late Mr. Charles H. Murphy, Jr., former
Chair of the Board of Murphy Oil Corporation and former member of the Hendrix
Board of Trustees, established the Foundation in 1978 in memory of his mother,
Mrs. Bertie Wilson Murphy. A 1905 graduate of Galloway Women’s College—which
later became part of Hendrix College—Mrs. Murphy possessed a lifelong love of
literature and language, to which these programs are exclusively dedicated.
About Hendrix College
A private liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas, Hendrix
College consistently earns recognition as one of the country’s leading liberal
arts institutions, and is featured in Colleges That Change Lives: 40
Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges. Its academic
quality and rigor, innovation, and value have established Hendrix as a fixture
in numerous college guides, lists, and rankings. Founded in 1876, Hendrix has
been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. To learn more,
visit www.hendrix.edu.