Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University senior Philip Williamson was honored as an outstanding presenter at the Alpha Chi National College Honor Society Super-Regional Convention held recently in Little Rock, Ark.

The convention was held at the Peabody Hotel where approximately 180 students competed for recognition and cash awards. Each student was given 10 to 12 minutes to present his or her work and then had an opportunity to respond to questions from an audience of peers and professors.

Williamson presented “Civilizational Identity and International Conflict” in the Economics and Political Science category. “My paper focused on explaining the reasons for conflict between the West and Islam,” Williamson said. “My theory is that the source of conflict is the universal nature of Islam and Western Christianity/Democracy, while the fuel for ongoing conflict is a radically different sense of self-identity within each civilization.” The paper is Williamson’s senior honors thesis, which he will also present at Ouachita’s upcoming Scholar’s Day April 28.

“I thought he did amazingly well,” said Dr. Lori Hensley, assistant professor of biology and faculty sponsor of OBU’s chapter of Alpha Chi. “His presentation was the only student presentation I saw for which the student had no notes, no outline, no PowerPoint. He didn't even stand behind the podium.”

The convention hosted several featured speakers, including Carlotta Wells LaNier, one of the “Little Rock Nine” and Carol Rasco, President Clinton’s domestic policy advisor and president of “Reading Is Fundamental.” Two other White House officials also spoke.

“Philip looked as though he was simply born to be up there presenting,” Hensley said. “He was the last one to speak in his category, and the judges immediately went up to him and started praising him and asking him his plans for the future. I knew he was going to win an award.”

Alpha Chi is a national college honor society for students from all majors. Membership is limited to the top 10 percent of each member institution’s upperclassmen and is granted through invitation only.

For more information about Alpha Chi, contact Dr. Lori Henley at [email protected] or (870) 245-5529 or Dr. Barbara Pemberton at [email protected] or (870) 245-5541.

By Amy Lynn Wentz