Five Scholars of Honors Northeast, in addition to Honors Professors Dr. Mary Hearron, and Dr. Andrew Yox represented NTCC at the 2014 meeting of the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC), November 6-9.† NTCC is the only community college in the nation to have featured scholarly student presenters continuously since 2008, and the only program in the nation, university or otherwise, to have featured two of its honors films in the last two years.
NCHC committees select proposals to present on the basis of appeal, previous awards, and scholarly promise.† Making the cut for NTCC were Elyse Coleman, for her work on railroads, Kayleah Cumpian on Wright Patman, Ana MartÌnez on early Tejanos, Miranda Mendoza on Gematria, and Tyler Reynolds, who introduced the Honors film on Wright Patman.
Elyse Coleman?s work on railroads attested to the point that not everyone benefits from the twentieth-century settlement that has placed the automobile culture in the ascendancy.† Her work showed that nineteenth-century trains were safer than modern automobiles and that contrary to legend; Americans often greeted and maintained nineteenth-century railroads with great enthusiasm.
Kayleah Cumpian?s work (above) emphasized that the long-term Northeast Texas Congressman, Wright Patman (1929-1976), represented the momentum of nineteenth-century populism in Texas.† Patman?s fight against chain stores, veteran?s bonuses, and high interest rates represented the ?money fixation? of the rural movement and the experience of rural Americans like Patman with destitution.
Miranda Mendoza?s presentation on Gematria was right at the center of the interdisciplinary emphasis in Honors.† Mendoza showed how freighting numbers with symbolic significance as in in the Bible began a tradition of innovation that culminated in the late Middle Ages, and also today in the digital revolution.
Ana MartÌnez?s revisionist work showed how Tejanos retained their influence in post-revolutionary south Texas.† Generalizations about ?ethnic cleansing? after the war with Mexico miss the continuing influence exerted by Mexican-Americans such as†Juan Cortina, and Santos Benavides.
Finally, Tyler Reynolds (above, center), spearheaded a panel that discussed how Honors Northeast assembles and produces films based on regional themes.† One key is proactive planning, and another, encouraging community support through the use of regional themes.
An anonymous Friend of Honors Northeast donated $500 so that each student could have an extra $100 for spending money on the trip, and Dr. Mary Hearron also contributed a gift that allowed for a festive meal together during the final night at Denver (above).† Joining the group for the final meal was Matthew Jordan, now at Texas Tech Honors, and a former Presidential Scholar at NTCC.
NTCC Scholars benefitted from the chance to present their work before the Denver conference to President Brad Johnson, Vice President Clinton, and Friends of Honors Northeast in a boardroom luncheon on 30 October.
Dr. Andrew Yox, Honors Director, noted that it was ?inspiring to see our students presenting alongside those of the University of Maine, and the University of Tennessee, and attracting just as much attention. Professor Ron Mawby of Eastern Kentucky University tried to persuade Kayleah to become a history major, and a woman from Augsburg College, a four-year institution in Minneapolis, gave Elyse a card so that theirHonors Review†could consider our essays.?
