Fresno Pacific University student Maranata Zemede won a $500 regional scholarship from the Alpha Chi College Honor Society.
Zemede is a senior communication major, film & media studies emphasis, with an English minor. The scholarship will assist Zemede, who is Ethiopian-American, in her senior project: an examination of how first-generation U.S. citizens who are part of the recent waves of African immigrants navigate black identities in the United States. “This project perfectly combines Maranata’s remarkable scholarly abilities with a meaningful interrogation of complex identity politics,” said Adam Schrag, Ph.D., assistant professor communication.
The 24 winners across seven regions split $15,000 to continue their academic work.
Alpha Chi is committed to the scholarly life of its members and chapters. FPU’s California Zeta chapter began in the late 1980s and has about 50 members. For the last 15 years the university has been a Star Chapter, an honor achieved by 20 percent of the society’s nearly 300 chapters. Sponsors are W. Marshall Johnston, Ph.D., associate professor of history; Pamela Johnston, Ph.D., associate professor of history; and Brian Schultz, Ph.D., associate professor of biblical and theological studies.
Alpha Chi National College Honor Society is open to juniors, seniors and graduate students from all disciplines in the top 10 percent of their classes and induct approximately 11,000 students annually nationwide. Since the society’s founding in 1922, Alpha Chi members have dedicated themselves to “making scholarship effective for good.” Alpha Chi is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies, the only national accrediting body for collegiate honor societies.