Via Hendrix College:
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.