Hundreds of students, faculty and their families took part in the Spring ’18 induction for Phi Kappa Phi Ole Miss. Speaker Ralph Eubanks inspired and the inductees impressed at the Ford Center on April 5. Thanks to Chancellor Jeff Vitter and Provost Noel Wilkin for making the day even more special.

To see a complete list of the students inducted, view the pdf version of the program: Spring Program 2018.

Visit our Facebook page for more photos from the event.

This year marks the third in a row that a University of Mississippi student has been named a 2017 Walter and Adelheid Hohenstein Fellow from Phi Kappa Phi honor society, the nation’s oldest, largest, and most selective honor society in all areas of academia.

Elizabeth Wicks, who received a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies and French, while pursuing a minor in Chemistry from the University of Mississippi, has been named a 2017 fellow of Phi Kappa Phi and also received a $5,000 scholarship for her fellowship. The Ocean Springs native, who is currently in her first year at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, intends to use the money from her scholarship to further her education in the field of medicine.

“Phi Kappa Phi is an honor society with everyday excellence as its core value—a value that I believe we should all strive for from the moment we wake up each morning,” Wicks said. “Being a part of the Phi Kappa Phi Society enriched my experience at Ole Miss and introduced me to a lifelong community of citizen scholars across the nation who seek high values and humble service.”

“It has been truly rewarding to have the honor of being a part of this exceptional organization which focuses on a love of learning.”

Dr. Debora Wenger, Assistant Dean and Associate Professor of the Meek School of Journalism and New Media, is the current president of Phi Kappa Phi at University of Mississippi. She notes the significance of this scholarship for both Wicks and the school.

“This scholarship is an honor, not only for Elizabeth and our previous winners, but also for the University of Mississippi,” said Wenger. “The fact that we have had three students awarded national Phi Kappa Phi scholarships in the past three years proves to me, once again, that our students can compete against any in the country.”

Wicks intends to continue to pursue a career in global health and health policy with her degree in medicine from UMMC.

Past Phi Kappa Phi fellows include poet Rita Dove, YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley and two NASA scientists. Meghan Wagner, who is pursuing a Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Mississippi, and Marcus Daniels, who earned a bachelor’s degree in biological science in 2015 and went on to medical school at Johns Hopkins University, are two past Phi Kappa Phi fellowship winners from Ole Miss.

“Being named a Phi Kappa Phi Walter and Adelheid Hohenstein Fellow has been an immense honor. I am thankful to have received this support and national recognition from the Phi Kappa Phi organization in order to pursue my career as a physician ” Wicks said.

Story contributed by Meek School of Journalism & New Media graduate student Pepper Taylor, pdtaylor@go.olemiss.edu.

The University of Mississippi chapter of Phi Kappa Phi honor society inducted 270 new members Sunday (Oct. 29), including three juniors from the same family.

Ann Weston, Katherine and Will Sistrunk, triplets from Springfield, Missouri, were inducted into the most selective interdisciplinary honor society at the university. All three are members of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College.

“The invitation to be a member of Phi Kappa Phi is a great accomplishment and it is especially exciting to be inducted with my siblings, as I owe much of my success to the guidance and support of Katherine and Will,” Ann Weston said.

Ann Weston is a public policy leadership major and is seeking minors in Spanish and intelligence and security studies. She plans to pursue a career in global health policy upon completion of graduate school.

Also a public policy leadership major and a pre-nursing student, Katherine is minoring in Spanish and society and health. She wants to combine her love for public policy with a career in a health-related field.

Will is majoring in biology and pursuing minors in chemistry and society and health. He plans to attend medical school after graduating from Ole Miss.

“Being nominated for Phi Kappa Phi is an awesome honor and reward for me academically,” Will said. “It also is a reflection of the great opportunities I have had at Ole Miss, from advising in the Honors College to meeting with professors who are always willing to help. I am excited for all that Phi Kappa Phi has to offer.”

To receive an invitation to join Phi Kappa Phi, juniors must have completed at least 72 credit hours and rank in the top 7.5 percent of their class. All three made the cut.

Deb Wenger, Phi Kappa Phi chapter president and assistant dean for partnerships and innovation in the Meek School of Journalism and New Media, said this is the first time she is aware of triplets inducted into any chapter of Phi Kappa Phi.

The Sistrunks come from an Ole Miss family. Their parents, William and Camille Sistrunk, are university alumni and Mississippi natives, and when it came to the three choosing a college, UM was always a consideration.

“As we were considering colleges, we initially had varying ideas on where we wanted to go and what we wanted to study,” Katherine said. “At first, I thought it was a definite possibility that we would end up at different schools. But, as we continued to visit other universities, Ole Miss kept calling us back.

“Ever since we were little, we have called Mississippi our second home. Ole Miss has brought us friendships and memories, and we ultimately chose Ole Miss because it was not only where our family went to school, but because it felt like home.”

UM was where the three siblings felt most comfortable and could each pursue the major of their choice.

“We are all very close but independent and different in our own ways, and it was a great thing that we each decided Ole Miss was the right place for each of us,” Katherine said. “Aside from Ole Miss having so many outstanding academic and extracurricular opportunities in which to participate, choosing Ole Miss was like coming home, and I couldn’t image what my college experience would have been like without my family by my side.”

But it wasn’t just the culture and the legacy aspect that drew them in. The Sistrunks said the scholarships offered through Ole Miss were the most generous of any institution to which they applied.

“Ole Miss has been everything we expected and much more in providing an excellent academic environment in which our kids are thriving, and we are very grateful for that,” the triplets’ father, William, said. “We are excited that they are planting roots in Mississippi.”

The university has since allowed each of them to academically perform to the best of their abilities.

“I am motivated to achieve by the desire to one day be able to be a successful professional and say that I am an alumni of the University of Mississippi, and with that, hopefully give back to the university that has given me so much,” Ann Weston said.

Ultimately, their independent achievements allowing them to come together in Phi Kappa Phi has made the family closer than ever.

“To me, my sisters being at the same college has been a great resource and comfort,” Will said. “I wouldn’t be where I am now without them. However, I know wherever they go, they will succeed.”

Their mother, Camille, agrees.

“My husband and I are very proud of Ann Weston, Katherine and Will,” she said. “We are very blessed that they are happy and healthy kids and students who have always academically challenged themselves and each other.”

Next Sunday, I’ll be addressing Phi Kappa Phi’s induction ceremony at Ole Miss. Phi Kappa Phi is the nation’s oldest, largest and most selective honor society. That means that I will be talking to a room of full of people who are both talented and driven. I won’t be the smartest person in the room.

So that’s my challenge. What do I say to a group of really bright and ambitious students?

I could give them a lecture on success.

Um, no. My advice about success would most likely ring hollow. I would bet the farm (if I had one) that they have the success thing pretty much figured out. For most of their academic career, they’ve been acing tests, crushing term papers and moving the needle when it comes to good grades. I’m not sure anything I could tell them would impress them.

“Do your best, kids!”

“Um, Mr. Ramsey, we have. That’s why we are being inducted into Phi Kappa Phi.”

Silence.

That’s when I realize that some of the people in the room can probably bend forks with their minds.

I could talk to them about failure, instead.

Right.

Teaching brilliant people about screwing up doesn’t sound like a good idea (at least on paper.) “Hi Mom and Dad, I want your kiddos to take a new road — the road to failure!  And students, just take your hands off the wheel and step on the gas. Seize the nap!”

That would go over like a cowbell in the Grove.

But when I say failure, I don’t mean blowing off a test or plagiarizing a paper. No, I mean the kind of failure that sometimes happens when you push beyond your comfort zone. The kind of failure that ends up giving you a doctorate in success. I learned that first hand my junior year in college.

My academic faceplant moment was Accounting 2. After a miserable semester, I limped into the final with a big fat F. Panic ensued. I had never failed anything before — heck a B was a bad grade to me.  But at 3 a.m. the night before the final, I had a caffeine-driven epiphany: You can’t spell “My Fault” without an F. I took responsibility, took the final, got a 92 and passed the class. The professor saw me later and said, “Why didn’t you do that all along?” I told him I had to fail first to learn my lesson.  I’m proud of that D. To me, it stands for Determination. It was a lesson I had to learn a couple years later when I was working as a custodian instead of a cartoonist. Walls crumble when faced with a determination and personal responsibility.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want the students to make a bad grade. But I do want them to break out of their academic safe places and try everything new that they can.  My classes in college gave me a solid education. My activities outside of the classroom gave me a career. My work at the student newspaper launched my cartoonist career.

My job as a custodian made me want my dream really bad. Maybe I could speak about that.

Or I could  just beg them to stay in Mississippi.  I’m not too proud to grovel, you know. And Lord knows we need them here.

I’ll plead with them to stay here after graduation to make this state better for all of us. I’ll ask them to stop the brain drain. I’ll suggest they grow their leadership in native soil. They are the best of the best. If they choose to stay in Mississippi (as in, if they find the kind of opportunities that fulfill their dreams), they will make our state a better place to live. I’m all for that.

So that’s what I’ll talk about. Because an idea like that will make me the smartest person in the room — for a moment.

This piece was published on the ClarionLedger.com on Oct. 25, 2017 (https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2017/10/25/ramsey-smartest-person-room/798855001/).