National Park College’s (NPC) chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, Alpha Beta Psi, won five
awards at the 2021 Catalyst convention.
Alpha Beta Psi won a Distinguished Honors in Action Theme Award for Theme 1: Heirs
of our ways. This award recognizes chapters whose Honors in Action project entries
scored highest in each of the seven themes.
The chapter also won a Distinguished Honors in Action Project Award. This goes to
the top 50 overall Honors in Action Projects regardless of the theme. Honors in Action
Projects incorporate academic research and analysis, action (service or advocacy),
collaboration and impact.
The Chapter’s Honors in Action Hallmark Award entry, “Positively Affecting Future
Generations Through the Education of Females,” was selected from among 400 entries
to be included as one of eighteen articles in the 2021 edition of Civic Scholar: Phi
Theta Kappa Journal of Undergraduate Research.
David Silk, vice president of scholarship, stated, “Our honors in action project was
an in-depth research report about the global effect of more university educated women.
I whole-heartedly believe anything that makes the world a better place is worth pursuing.
Through our research, we discovered a multitude of benefits ranging from decreasing
unemployment, economic upturn and worldwide climate improvement.”
NPC’s chapter was also named a top 100 chapter. Each chapter’s ranking is based on
its equally weighted Honors in Action and College Project scores.
Alpha Beta Psi was named a Distinguished Chapter for the second consecutive year.
To be considered for a Distinguished Chapter Award, a chapter must submit entries
for both the Honors in Action Project and College Project Award. Selection of the
Distinguished Chapters is based solely on the written entries for these Hallmark Awards.
The scores in each of the two Hallmark categories are equally weighted to determine
a chapters overall ranking. Awards are presented to the top 10% of chapters entering
the Honors in Action and College Project categories.
Dr. Rebekah Robinette is an NPC instructor and also serves as the chapter advisor
for Alpha Beta Psi as well as the Oklahoma/Arkansas regional coordinator. Robinette
was one of 21 advisors awarded the Distinguished Advisor Award. This award is for
advisors with at least four years or more of service and can only be received once.
“There are 1290 chapters across the US and abroad. Our chapter is among the top 10%.
This is the first time Alpha Beta Psi has won an award for our work on Honors in Action,
and we were not only in the top 50 overall, but also in the top three for theme one.
Our Honors in Action project was entitled, ‘Positively Affecting Future Generations
through the Education of Females.’ The action component of our project was the establishment
of the first AAUW junior chapter in the state,” said Robinette.
Pictured left to right on the back row: Corry Morris, Jonah Jericho, David Silk, Hunter Speas; front row: Ali Meeks, Jaclyn Jasnocha, Jessica Goble
