VWC hosts history honors society conference; senior Rebecca Driscoll wins Best Paper award
By Edward Phillips '11 | April 5, 2011
On Saturday, March 26, Virginia Wesleyan College hosted the 2011 Phi Alpha Theta Virginia Regional Student History Conference. Wesleyan’s Phi Alpha Theta chapter, Omega Pi, has been in existence since 1980. Five Omega Pi members presented at the conference, which drew more than 80 guests from 10 different schools.
Bethany Bayles (junior), Rebecca Driscoll (senior), Ksera Dyette (senior), Michele Kelly (junior) and John Nash Maravich (senior) represented VWC. Forty-nine student papers (four graduate and 45 undergraduate) were presented in the fields of U.S., European and world history.
Rebecca Driscoll, president of VWC’s Omega Pi chapter since 2008, took the prestigious award for Best Paper in the undergraduate world history category. Driscoll’s presentation was based on her fall semester senior history thesis, titled “Mothers, Moral Compasses and Sisters to the Nation: Traditional and Radical Arguments Against the Contagious Diseases Acts, 1864-1886.”
Under the direction of Dr. Sara Sewell and Dr. Clay Drees, Driscoll worked tirelessly on her research to ensure that it would be in top form for the conference. Yet, she was surprised to take first place in her category.
“It was really nice to know that all of the research I conducted that semester paid off.”
Dr. Drees, the faculty advisor for Phi Alpha Theta, was very excited for the success of his students.
“I am proud to say that Virginia Wesleyan wins awards at some 80 percent of the conferences we attend,” Drees said, “which speaks very well for the history program, faculty and students here at the College.”
Congratulations are in order for all the student presenters in this year’s Phi Alpha Theta Conference. Mark your calendars for the upcoming Undergraduate Research symposium, April 26-29, where many of Wesleyan’s best and brightest will be showcasing their work.