Members of the Fresno Pacific University Alpha Chi National College Honor Society chapter won honors and were elected to national posts at the group’s national convention April 4-5, 2025.
FPU’s California Zeta chapter won the $2,500 second place prize in the 2025 Trisha Yarbrough Collaborative Research Competition for a project titled, “Literature as Medicine: Bibliotherapy’s Effects on Burnout in Undergraduate Students of a Liberal Arts College.”
Two students also won division awards:
- Madeline R. Ross, a senior majoring in math education, in the Education category for her presentation, Beyond the Right Answer: Cultivating Creativity in Math Education.”
- Laura Hand, a graduate student majoring in English, in the Fine Arts category for her original fiction, “I am Io.”
In all, FPU students won three of the 13 awards presented at the convention, which had he theme “New Frontiers in Academia and Beyond.” Entrees by the 48 participating schools were judged by a multidisciplinary panel of professors who assessed five collegiate teams, each submitting a written research paper, a slide presentation and a live national convention presentation. Since the conference was virtual, students tuned in from Casa Pacifica.
California Zeta’s student team was comprised of Brooke Barham, a senior marketing major; Jan Bialecki, a senior studying political science; Jasmine Sirvent, a senior pursuing degrees in mathematics and English; Fatima Torrez-Sanchez, a senior psychology major; and Safaa Umar, a junior studying biology and health sciences.
For the Yarbrough Competition, the team conducted research to determine the impact bibliotherapy, a restorative reading practice, had on the mental health of students experiencing stress and burnout. The team concluded that reading helps people better understand and reconnect with themselves and those around them. “Since high school and college students are particularly at risk for burnout and mental health struggles, universities have the unique opportunity to support students who are most at risk by reconnecting them with reading, their emotions, and their community through restorative practices such as bibliotherapy.”
Johnston, Hand elected to national council
Also at the national convention, W. Marshall Johnston, Ph.D., director of FPU’s University Scholars Program, and Laura Hand were among those elected to the Alpha Chi National Council, the organization’s board of directors. Johnston has been a long-time sponsor of FPU’s Alpha Chi chapter as a member of the history and classics faculty.
Membership in Alpha Chi National College Honor Society is open to juniors, seniors and graduate students from all disciplines in the top 10% of their classes at member institutions. Founded in 1922, Alpha Chi has chapters on more than 300 campuses nationwide and inducts approximately 8,000 students annually.
PHOTO: Alpha Chi students relax at Casa Pacifica during the virtual national conference. (Photo provided)