Croft Student Selected as Gilman Scholar

Croft senior Qua Sayles was recently selected as a Gilman Scholar for the 2013-2014 year.  She will be studying at Yarmouk University in Irbid, Jordan. 

The Benjamin J. Gilman Scholarship Program offers awards for undergraduate study abroad and was established by the International Academic Opportunity Act of 2000. This scholarship provides awards for U.S. undergraduate students who are receiving Federal Pell Grant funding at a two-year or four-year college or university to participate in study abroad programs worldwide.

Congrats to Qua!

Croft Graduate Isaac Lichlyter Wins China Open Debate Tournament With U.M. Forensics Team

Recent Croft graduate Isaac Lichlyter (B.A. 2013) (pictured on the right) recently traveled to Xi'an China to compete in the China Open Debate Tournament with the U.M. Forensics Team.  He and teammate Austin "Woody" Wood, a senior in political science, took the top two spots at the tournament.  David Miller, a sophomore in political science, was the third member of the team.

One hundred and fifty teams from 110 schools competed in the English-language tournament, which is promoted by Willamette University in Oregon.  Many of the teams are made of an English-speaking and a Chinese student: David Miller, the third member of the U.M. team, was paired with Amy, a freshman English major at Xi'an Jiaotong University. 

JoAnn Edwards, the Director of Forensics at U.M., writes, "Our students continue to amaze me with their abilities to communicate effectively across cultural and academic audiences.  We continue to be small but mighty - honoring the power of the spoken word."

Congratulations to Isaac, Woody, David, and the entire U.M. Forensics program!

Croft Videos Produced by UM Media & Documentary Projects

Mary Stanton of UM Media & Documentary Projects has produced two fantastic videos about the Croft Institute, which can be seen on our website or on YouTube.

Croft Institute

Croft Institute - Thank You

Croft Institute Cover Story in Spring 2013 Issue of Ole Miss Alumni Review

The Croft Institute was featured in the cover story of the Spring 2013 issue of the Ole Miss Alumni Review.  Subscribers have probably already read the article, while everyone else can wait for it to be posted to the Alumni Review's website.

Croft Senate Elections

Outgoing President Kathy Trabue has reported on the elections for the 2013-2014 Senate elections.  She writes that they had some great nominations this year and thanks all those who participated.

• Sophomores: Liana Tai, Conner Clark, Steven Wild
• Juniors: Alison Bartel, Maggie Spear, Holly Smith
• Seniors: Colby Woods, Kendra Wright, Landin Smith

Congratulations to our new senators.  Elections for freshmen senators will take place next fall.

Professor Miguel Centellas Published in Political Analysis

Croft Visiting Assistant Professor Miguel Centellas recently had an article published in Political Analysis.  The article, which Dr. Centellas co-authored with Mihaiela Ristei Gugiu of the Ohio State University, uses hierarchical cluster analysis to propose and construct a new measure of democracy, the DCC index,  from five popular indices of democracy.

Congratulations to our 2013 Graduates!

Thirty students graduated from the Croft Institute on Saturday, May 11.  Photos of the graduates and information about their theses and honors can be found on our special graduation website.

Pictures from Thesis Defenses and Graduation Dinner on Facebook

The last few weeks have been busy as we wrap up the spring semester and prepare for graduation.  Visit the Croft Institute's Facebook page to see pictures from our senior thesis defenses and the graduation dinner.

Rebel Global Connections: Mural in Clarksdale and Visit from Como Elementary School Students

Rebel Global Connections has had a busy few weeks.  On Friday, April 19, the group welcomed students from Como Elementary School.  They gave the students a tour of campus, played games, and put on an international fair to get them excited about college, their future, and the world around them!

The very next day, April 20, members of RGC drove down to Clarksdale to help paint a mural of a world map at Myrtle Hall IV Elementary School, which houses a Spanish-immersions program.

Rebel Global Connections Field Trip from Como Elementary School

Rebel Global Connections will host its first field trip.  About 150 3rd through 5th graders from Como Elementary School will be on campus from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday, April 19.  There will be an international fair, passports for the students to make and other crafts and activities . If anyone wants to volunteer to help they can email Kathy  Trabue or Erin Mauffray. They should also feel free to come to the RGC meeting on Monday, April 12, at 5:15 p.m. in Bryant 207.

Croft Students raise close to $1000 in RebelThon

Almost two dozen Croft students participated in the the U.M. RebelThon on Friday, April 5, and raised almost one thousands dollars through on-line donations and several bake sales.  This was added to the total of $25,409.73 raised for the children at Le Bonheur Hospital in Memphis.  Croft students Claire Reid, Sarah Woods, Maia Cotelo, and Zachary Newton served on the Executive Board of the fundraiser.

Thirteen Croft Students Inducted into UM Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa

Congratulations to thirteen Croft students who were inducted into the University of Mississippi's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa:

Seniors
Cody Leblanc
Audrey Mason
Becky Pocase
Claire Reid
Jessica Sewell
Lexi Thoman
Tori Thoman
Kathy Trabue
Anastasia Varenita
Sarah Woods
Leighton Wright

Juniors:
Brad Gordon
Kevin Scott

They join seniors Jackie Boyce, Robert Eberhart, Ryan Ezelle, Isaac Lichtlyter, and Sean Ray, who were inducted in 2012.

Croft Graduate Helps Launch Map of Citizen Security Projects in Latin America

Croft graduate Joe Bateman (B.A. 2010) is working for the Washington Office on Latin America (www.wola.org), where he coordinates the organizations work on Brazil and does research for the Citizen Security program.  In collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank, WOLA recently launched an interactive Mapping of Internationally-Funded Citizen Security Projects in Central America. This web application identifies citizen-security programs and projects in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, and Costa Rica and tracks over 2 billion dollars of funding across 600 programs.  It looks like it could be useful for a future senior thesis!

College Corps Looking for New Members

The College of Liberal Arts is looking for outstanding candidates for its third class of College Corps members. College Corps is a community-based AmeriCorps program that addresses problems related to education and opportunity throughout Oxford and Lafayette County. As a College Corps participant, members are part of a powerful team of leaders united in service to the community.

Participants serve as minimum-time AmeriCorps members and are deployed to community host sites where they serve 300 volunteer hours throughout the course of the school year. Members generally serve 9-12 hours a week and add a new layer of strength to their designated site. Program sites include the Boys and Girls Club, Oxford Public Schools, the Leap Frog Tutoring Program, Doors of Hope, the the Mississippi State Veterans Home of Oxford, and Interfaith Compassion Ministries, among others. Upon completion of 300 hours, all members are eligible for a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award.

All interested applicants should fill out the attached form and submit it to Hume Hall 231 by April 19.

See more information on the program at the following link:

http://umcollegecorps.webs.com/

Contact Sharon Levine at: splevine at olemiss dot edu or 662-915-1905 with any questions.

Nisolo Accepted into Social Enterprise Accelerator Programs

Croft graduate Patrick Woodyard (B.A. 2010) recently informed us that his company, Nisolo, was recently accepted into one of the top social enterprise accelerator programs in Latin America, Agora Parternships, as well as one of the top accelerator programs in the world for social enterprises, The Unreasonable Institute in Boulder, CO. These opportunities will enable Nisolo to move quickly from growth to scale stage in the life cycle of our business and are a huge honor, as each had hundreds of reputable businesses from around the world applying to be in the programs. He and his partners were also recently named "Heroes" in Nashville Lifestyles Magazine, an encouraging achievement after having moved there seven months ago.

Croft Junior Colby Woods Interning in Germany

Colby Woods spent his fall semester studying political management at Hochschule Bremen in Bremen, Germany on a UAS7 German Universities of Applied Sciences study abroad scholarship.
His spring semester will be spent interning with the Social Media and Communications department of the Bündnis 90/die Grünen (Alliance 90/The Greens) for three months (mid-April until mid-July). This paid internship will be supporting their federal election campaign activities by translating and event coordination.