MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Honors students from across the state gathered at Middle Tennessee State University recently for the 2025 Tennessee Collegiate Honors Council two-day annual conference this spring.

John Vile, MTSU Honors College dean and TCHC president, welcomed students and faculty at the opening ceremony alongside MTSU Provost Mark Byrnes.

“The Honors College at MTSU is proud to host over 100 participants from 17 institutions throughout the state,” said Vile. “Honors faculty and students continue their pursuit of scholarly excellence in community settings that prepare them for continuing service to their respective institutions and the community.”

“The Honors program represents the best of what higher education is all about,” said Byrnes, who was enthusiastic that students took the weekend for this opportunity for fellowship and to share research conducted at institutions across the state. Byrnes is an MTSU Honors alumnus and former Honors faculty member.

This year’s conference theme, “Pillars of Excellence,” reflected the values of strength, reliability and exceptional performance. This theme underscored the idea of foundational support systems that foster success and high standards.

“The theme resonated with me because of the activities I engage with in and out of the classroom,” said Hannah Antrican, of Morristown, a psychology and sociology major and SOAR president. “At the conference, I was inspired to reflect on how my engagement with the Honors College has contributed to my personal development in all these areas.”

Honors students spent months developing scholarly papers and posters to present, giving them the opportunity to share their research findings, receive valuable feedback, and practice professional communication skills. These activities contribute to their academic growth and future career development.

“The TCHC conference was a wonderful experience for me, especially as a freshman primarily surrounded by seniors presenting their honors theses. It perfectly demonstrated the jump in academia from senior year in high school and my AP Research project to an elaborate honors thesis,” explained MTSU aerospace major Sam Haley, of Jonesborough. “It’s definitely changed my perspective on being a part of the Honors community — I look forward to hopefully being able to present my senior year as well and can’t wait to see where my journey in this community takes me.”

The conference also featured an essay contest connected to the theme, prompting students to discuss: “Which book, person, movie, or song has had the greatest impact on your life? How? And what was so impactful?”

After receiving many impressive submissions, the top three essays were selected. Tara Griffith from Freed-Hardeman University earned third place for her essay titled “A Life Worth Living.” Celeste Bishop of Volunteer State Community College took second place with “A Good Believer’s Freedom.” The first-place award went to Micah Matthews, also from Volunteer State Community College, for his untitled essay inspired by Proverbs 22:6.

Conference attendees gathered for a social event on Friday evening, Feb. 28, at the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors College Building. Saturday, March 1, featured a Fellowship Roundtable led by Laura Clippard, MTSU’s undergraduate fellowships specialist and Honors advisor, and Trey Straussberger, director of the Office of National Scholarships at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. 

The discussion featured panelists Tandra Martin, senior associate consultant of Higher Education Strategy and Operations at Huron Consulting Group; senior mechatronics major and Honors Buchanan Fellow Samuel Apigian, of Murfreesboro; and junior dual political science and German major Victoria Grigsby, of Taft, also a Buchanan Fellow.

For more information about MTSU’s Honors College, visit honors.mtsu.edu.

— Robin E. Lee (Robin.E.Lee@mtsu.edu)