Every spring, the Department of Sociology and Anthropology has the honor of celebrating the outstanding accomplishments of our students at the Spring Awards Banquet. We are thrilled to recognize all of our amazing students who received a scholarship and/or an award on May 5.
Edward and Juliet Jelks Scholarship
The Edward and Juliet Jelks Scholarship is awarded to provide financial assistance to an anthropology student enrolled in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology with a concentration in archaeology and with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above. The student must be at a grade level of sophomore, junior, senior, or graduate.
2023 Edward and Juliet Jelks Scholarship recipient: Rachael Kooistra, B.S. Anthropology
Martin K. Nickels Scholarship
The Martin K. Nickels Scholarship was established to help support an undergraduate anthropology major’s participation in a summer field school. An award of $750 is made to the student selected.
2023 Martin K. Nickels Scholarship recipients: Carley Reilley, B.S. Anthropology and Zachary Long, B.S. Anthropology
John Kinneman Scholarship
John Kinneman was a sociologist and the chair of the Social Science Department prior to the founding of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. The John Kinneman Scholarship is awarded to a junior or senior sociology major who has demonstrated a serious record of academic excellence. The award is the highest academic honor the sociology program bestows on an undergraduate student.
2023 John Kinneman Scholarship recipients: Kaley Beckman, B.S. Sociology and Kaysee O’Gara, B.S. Sociology
Ben Keeley Scholarship
The Ben Keeley Scholarship is awarded to a senior in sociology and recognizes a student who demonstrated significant involvement in service and/or volunteer work to the community. The award winner must have at least a 3.0 GPA and must submit a 600-word essay on the relevance of sociology to service and volunteerism in American communities.
2023 Ben Keeley Scholarship recipients: Lawrence Landfair, B.S. Sociology and Hattie Parsons, B.S. Anthropology
R. Douglas and Janice Luecke Irvine Endowed Scholarship
The R. Douglas and Janice Luecke Irvine Endowed Scholarship was established in 2013. This scholarship is awarded to one sociology major of at least sophomore standing who has attained a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
2023 R. Douglas and Janice Luecke Irvine Endowed Scholarship recipient: Mackenzie Raddatz, B.S. Sociology
Wib Leonard Scholarship
The Wib Leonard Scholarship provides $500 to a student majoring in sociology or anthropology who shows competence and passion for the quantitative side of either discipline. Dr. Wib Leonard wrote the proposal for social statistics in the early 1970s, has taught social statistics over 130 times, has five revisions of the original text, Basic Social Statistics, that’s been used since the initial publication in 1976, and has been a faculty consultant for the Advanced Placement statistics tests. He has been teaching at ISU for over 53 years.
2023 Wib Leonard Scholarship Recipient: Hattie Parsons, B.S. Anthropology
Social Aspects of Aging Scholarship
The Social Aspects of Aging Scholarship gives recognition and encouragement to an Illinois State University student from Sociology and Anthropology who has shown interest and initiative in the fields of health, aging, or wellness.
2023 Social Aspects of Aging Scholarship recipient: Sydnee Davis, B.S. Sociology
Robert Dirks Senior Thesis Award
Robert Dirks is a cultural anthropologist who specializes in the relationship between food and culture, especially in the Caribbean. Dirks was one of the first cultural anthropologists in our department and therefore helped to shape the curriculum. He was adamant that each anthropology major should complete a senior thesis, a tradition that continues to this day. The Robert Dirks Senior Thesis Award is therefore given to an anthropology student with the strongest senior thesis in each senior thesis class.
2023 Robert Dirks Senior Thesis Award recipients: Ayushi Shukla, B.S. Anthropology and Noah Virklan, B.S. Anthropology
Ed Jelks Outstanding Senior Award
Dr. Ed Jelks was a historical archaeologist and a founding member of the Society for Historical Archaeology. He founded the Midwest Archaeological Center that was housed in our department and in 2010 he was presented with a lifetime achievement award by the Illinois Archaeological Survey. Each year, the Anthropology faculty present the Ed Jelks Outstanding Senior Award to a senior student who embodies academic excellence and active engagement with anthropology within our program and beyond.
2023 Ed Jelks Outstanding Senior Award: Michaela Schroeder, B.S. Anthropology
Rising Young Sociologist Award
The Rising Young Sociologist Award is given to an outstanding sociology major currently in their junior year who demonstrates exceptional academic achievement and a high level of campus and community engagement.
Recipients embody strong character and leadership qualities. To be eligible for the award, students must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.7, have attended ISU for at least four semesters and be on schedule to graduate in the academic year after receiving the award. Award recipients also serve as the program’s nominee for the University’s prestigious Bone Scholarship competition.
2023 Rising Young Sociologist Award recipient: Megan Lowe, B.S. Sociology
Rising Young Anthropologist Award
As a companion to the previous award, The Rising Young Anthropologist Award is given to an outstanding anthropology major currently in their junior year who demonstrates exceptional academic achievement and a high level of campus and community engagement. Recipients embody strong character and leadership qualities. To be eligible for the award, students must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.7, have attended ISU for at least four semesters and be on schedule to graduate in the academic year after receiving the award. Award recipients also serve as the program’s nominee for the University’s prestigious Bone Scholarship competition.
2023 Rising Young Anthropologist Award recipient: Ryleigh Hickman, B.S. Anthropology
ASA/ISU Distinguished Sociology Graduate Student Award
The ASA/ISU Distinguished Sociology Graduate Student Award has been given annually since 1994 to the student who has most distinguished himself/herself over the course of the master’s degree program. All sociology graduate students who have earned more than 18 total credit hours are eligible.
2023 ASA/ISU Distinguished Sociology Graduate Student Award recipient: Melon Tanui, M.S. Sociology
Charter Department Graduate Student Excellence Award
The Charter Department Graduate Student Excellence Award has been given annually since 1994 to the graduate student who demonstrates the most academic promise for success in our program. All sociology graduate students who have completed at least one semester of graduate work in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at ISU but have earned 18 total credit hours or less are eligible.
2023 Charter Department Graduate Student Excellence Award recipient: Melody Roche, M.S. Sociology and ACED Fellow
Aspiring Sociology and Anthropology Major Scholarship
The Aspiring Sociology and Anthropology Major Scholarship seeks to recognize and acknowledge students who have declared sociology or anthropology within their first year at Illinois State University.
2023 Aspiring Sociology and Anthropology Major Scholarship recipients: Day’Lyona Hardnett-Servin, Nolan Herman, Maeve Staunton, Austin Wilson
Alpha Kappa Delta, Sociology Honor Society
The international honor society in Sociology, Alpha Kappa Delta’s mission is to develop scientific knowledge that promotes human welfare and contributes to solving social problems. Membership is a high honor and only the best students are invited to join. Upon their initiation, inductees become lifelong members in the honor society.
2023 Alpha Kappa Delta, Sociology Honor Society Inductees: Ariel Branch, Kaitlyn Johns, Deborah May, Melon Tanui, Ki’Ambri Edwards, Megan Lowe, Juliana Vidal, Vivian Yawson, Emily Monroe
Lambda Alpha, Anthropology Honor Society
Lambda Alpha is the National Collegiate Honors Society for anthropology. Its purposes are to promote interest in the study of anthropology as a university discipline, to recognize outstanding student performance, and to encourage scholarship and research in anthropology. To be invited, undergraduates have to have a 3.25 overall GPA and graduate students have to have a 3.6.
2023 Lambda Alpha Inductees: Zackary Aleman, Christi Berta, Danielle Bovilsky, Kiera Eckhardt, Marie Grimm, Rebecca Groebe, Valerie Howerton, Rachael Kooistra, Zachary Long, Rebecca Ma, Max Manthou, Sommer Martin, Julian Marvel, Madeline McReynolds, Janeth Montenegro Marquez, Kari O’Doran, Jon Otto, Charles Roelant, Heather Salmons, Alexandria Saunders, Grace Smith, Maureena Terven, Noah Virklan, Nolan Wiese, Ashley Woolard
Emeritus Nick Maroules Study Abroad Award
One of the goals of our department is to increase the number of students participating in study abroad. Realizing that one of the impediments to going abroad is the additional costs, our department and alumni board have taken on the mission of finding additional funds to award to students who show an interest in studying abroad. We have also highlighted this fund as one of our priorities in recent fundraising efforts such as the Birds Give Back day back in 2022. We are excited to award five scholarships this year to our students who will be studying abroad starting this summer and into the next academic year.
2023 Emeritus Nick Maroules Study Abroad Award recipients: Carley Reilley (ANT) – Spain, Zachary Long (ANT) – Italy, Rachael Kooistra (ANT) – Australia, Cailin Perez (SOC) – European Tour, Madeline McReynolds (ANT) – Italy
Scott Elliott Endowment for Sociology & Anthropology
Scott M. Elliot attended ISU from 1979-1984, graduating with a major in economics and a minor in sociology. After leaving ISU, Elliot received a master’s in statistics and economics. In 2006, he made a sizable gift benefitting the Departments of Economics, Philosophy and Sociology and Anthropology. In SOA we use the funds to support travel for undergraduate and graduate students who travel to professional meetings and make presentations. The ability to support this kind of professional development is invaluable for both students and faculty.
2023 Scott Elliott Travel Scholarship recipients: Kiera Eckhardt, Rebecca Ma, Max Manthou, Sommer Martin, Janeth Montenegro Marquez, Sarah Patterson, Melon Tanui
Honors Students
The mission of the Honors Program is to promote exceptional learning by enriching students’ learning experiences at Illinois State University. To be an honors student at Illinois State students must maintain a 3.3 GPA or higher and participate each semester in honor’s experiences.
2023 Honors Students: Kaley Beckman, Ariel Branch, Rebecca Groebe, Ryleigh Hickman, Brittney Lewis, Megan Lowe, Jakai Martin, Ashley Woolard
Dean’s List
Undergraduate students who meet high academic standards are included in a Dean’s List issued each semester. To be on the Dean’s List a student must complete 12 or more semester hours and have a GPA in the top 10% in the College.
Fall 2022: Olivia Brucato, Wyatt Frere, Jackson Garrett, Brytni Gillespie, Conor Grande, Lizette Gregg, Rebecca Groebe, Ryleigh Hickman, Sydney Hoosman, Emily Hunter, Ciara Jennings, Rachael Kooistra, Megan Lowe, Marissa Luce, Irene Mossman, Kaysee O’Gara, Jon Otto, Nick Reyes, Garrett Rice, Heather Salmons, Michaela Schroeder, Taylor Starr, Maureena Terven, Brittany Thomas, Noah Virklan, Jayden Wilburn-Johnson
Spring 2022: Angelina Abad, Jen Bresley, Elena Cotter, Elizabeth Crawford, Maddie Davidson, Shannon Engelhardt, Wyatt Frere, Conor Grande, Lizette Gregg, Rebecca Groebe, Ryleigh Hickman, Ciara Jennings, Taylor Kanuk, Sophia Larson, Megan Lowe, Ellen Mawyer, Deborah May, Tenaya Muhammad, Yasmin Odeh, Anna Raymond, Michaela Schroeder, Grace Smith, Nadia Smith, Anna Tulley, Noah Virklan, Nolan Wiese, Jayden Wilburn-Johnson, Ashley Woolard
Heather Dillaway, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, left
Heather Dillaway, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, left
