CONWAY, Ark. (February 29, 2016) – Laela Zaidi ’18 and David Tate ’18 were recently accepted to study at St. Peter’s College at Oxford University for the 2016-17 academic year.
At St. Peter’s College, the students will study through the traditional tutorial method, which involves meeting one-on-one or in small groups with a member of the St. Peter's College faculty each week. Students take two tutorials per term, for a total of six during the
year (the equivalent of nine Hendrix credits).
Both students received the Francis and Penelope Warner Scholarships. The scholarships, endowed at Hendrix in 2015, honor the longstanding partnership with the Warners, who directed one of the first Hendrix study-abroad programs, the Oxford Overseas Study Course. The
Warners retired in 2013; Dr. Francis Warner, Fellow Emeritus of St. Peter’s, helped establish the new program.
Tate and Zaidi are also part of the inaugural class of Murphy Scholars in Literature and Language, a new program supported by the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation Programs in Literature and Language.
Zaidi, a religious studies major from Joplin, Missouri, will study theology and religion at St. Peter’s.
“I hope to uncover which specific areas of religious studies interest me the most. Oxford's tutorial system is one of the most challenging and unique approaches to undergraduate education. I will bring to Oxford a wide-ranging educational career and a passion for being an engaged learner, but I hope to
return to Hendrix with a clearer vision for my future,” she said. “I believe that carving my unique path at Oxford with self-driven tutorials will be an opportunity to take intellectual risks and sharpen my critical thinking skills. Studying at St. Peter's will be
both academically and personally empowering, and I look forward to meeting students from around the world!”
Tate, an English and religious studies major from St. Louis, Missouri, will study English.
“I look forward to this incredible opportunity to broaden my understanding of the history of literature in English,” he said. “I also cannot wait to take full advantage of the tutorial system of learning at St. Peter's to focus my approach and thinking within the discipline.”
“Studying in an entirely unfamiliar college, city, and country for an entire year will be a great challenge, albeit an exciting one,” Tate added. “Taken together, the academic and social experiences of St. Peter’s will be an exceptional complement to my time at Hendrix, a terrifying and thrilling opportunity for
extended growth within a new educational community.”
Grace Dostart ’17, a psychology major from Little Rock, Arkansas, is currently studying anthropology at St. Peter’s this year. She is minoring in anthropology, which complements her focus on social psychology, which she plans to pursue in graduate school.
About Hendrix College
Hendrix College is a private liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas. Founded in 1876 and affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884, Hendrix is featured in Colleges That Change Lives:
40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think about Colleges and is nationally recognized in numerous college guides, lists, and rankings for academic quality, community, innovation, and value. For more information, visit
www.hendrix.edu.