MTSU grad student awarded $20K national fellowship

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University graduate student Rachel Booher was selected as a 2024 Marcus L. Urann Fellow by the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.

A Murfreesboro resident, Booher is one of only six students nationwide who will be awarded $20,000 to use toward her graduate degree, and she is the first student from MTSU to receive this award.

Dr. David A. Foote, associate dean, Jones College of Business — Dr. David A. Foote

“Congratulations to Rachel, a student vice president in MTSU’s Chapter 246 of Phi Kappa Phi, as the very first member from MTSU to receive a PKP Fellowship for $20,000!” exclaimed David Foote, president of MTSU’s Phi Kappa Phi executive board. “She filled a critical role in our local chapter of Phi Kappa Phi during her undergraduate years and demonstrated an unquenchable love of learning throughout. This well-deserved award will enable her to continue expressing that love of learning as a graduate student.”

“This is incredible! I am very grateful,” Booher exclaimed, with a big smile on her face during a virtual meeting call with all the members of the Honors College to tell her the big news. “I have never received this much money in my entire life, and it relieves an enormous financial burden. Thinking about school, our family, and our future, this fellowship completely changes everything for me and my husband.”

Pictured here outside the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tenn., MTSU graduate student Rachel Booher was recently selected as a 2024 Marcus L. Urann Fellow by the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, one of only six students nationwide awarded $20,000 to use toward a graduate degree and first MTSU student to receive this award. (MTSU photo)

Established in 1932, the PKP Fellowship Program annually provides funding to first-year graduate students who are pursuing post-baccalaureate degrees across all academic disciplines. Fellowship selection is based on academic achievement and service and leadership experience on and off campus.

“Our local Phi Kappa Phi chapter membership comprises many outstanding students, faculty and staff. We take great pleasure in recognizing the remarkable achievement of one of those members in earning this fellowship,” said Foote.

MTSU Chapter 246 President-elect Philip E. Phillips, who is also the Honors College associate dean, has served on a previous national fellowship committee and knows firsthand how competitive it is.

Dr. Philip Phillips, University Honors College associate dean and professor of English — Dr. Philip Phillips

“Rachel is an exemplary student dedicated to the love of learning, and her personal journey is one of impressive perseverance. She truly exemplifies the vision and core values of Phi Kappa Phi and is highly deserving of this award. We at the Honors College are extremely happy for her,” said Phillips.

An Honors Buchanan Transfer Fellow, Booher completed her bachelor’s degree at MTSU in December 2023, majoring in foreign languages. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in English. She was inducted into Phi Kappa Phi in 2021.

Previously, Booher has served as the editor-in-chief of Collage: A Journal of Creative Expression. She received the Freeman-Asia scholarship in 2022 and spent a year studying abroad in Japan. An article about her experience there was published in the 50^th anniversary issue of Honors College magazine Areté earlier this year.

— Robin E. Lee (Robin.E.Lee@mtsu.edu)