EOU senior receives Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship

Published: April 29, 2004

by C.J. Gish
Media and publication writer
University Advancement
541-962-3585 / fax 541-962-3680

Jayne-Leigh Thomas

La Grande, Oregon - Jayne-Leigh Thomas has had a senior year to remember as she rounds third base and heads to the June 12 Eastern Oregon University Commencement homestretch.

The 21-year-old EOU senior, a double major and four-year Mountaineer softball pitcher, was recently awarded a $2,000 Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship. She is from Selah, Wash.

"There are 60 awards nationally," said Elizabeth Boretz, EOU's Honors Program coordinator. "Each university is allowed to forward only one nominee, drawn from the top 10 percent of the senior class. The PKP Fellowship Committee at the National Headquarters looks for students with interdisciplinary perspectives and accomplishments that reflect this commitment, in addition to an international educational experience."

Thomas spent last summer in Bolivia for a three-week anthropology internship. She will graduate in June with a double major in Anthropology/Sociology and a Liberal Studies degree in Spanish and International Studies with a geology minor. Thomas was also honored in September when she was named the Cascade Collegiate Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year. She was selected EOU's 2003 Female Ragsdale Scholar Athlete of the Year last June and has been involved in several extra-curricular activities around campus, including the EOU Ambassadors program, the Geology Club, the Safety Kids Fair and the Spanish Honors Society.

Thomas will spend the summer attending a seven-week University of Oregon field school in southern Idaho. "I'll be out digging in dirt and learning archeological field skills," she said, adding that she may pursue and internship this fall or possibly attend another field school.

Simon Fraser in Vancouver, British Columbia, in Canada is Thomas's next academic stop in either fall 2004 or spring 2005.

"(Simon Fraser) is where I want to go to graduate school," she said. "They have an extremely good archeological school. After that I want to earn a Ph.D., and then I want to manage my own archeological sites or teach at universities."

Contact Information

University Advancement Eastern Oregon University One University Boulevard La Grande, OR 97850 phone 541.962.3740 fax 541.962.3680 email University Advancement