Grove City students chosen as fellows

Staff report

GROVE CITY, PA.

Two recent Grove City College graduates will continue to explore the connection between faith and learning as 2015 Lilly Graduate Fellows.

Cara Christenberry ’15 and Sarah Horton ’15 are two of just 10 scholars selected for the program, which provides mentoring and support to graduate students during the crucial early years of their doctoral studies.

Christenberry, a history major from Edelstein, Ill., will study ancient Near Eastern history with a focus on Sasanian Iran history this fall at the University of Chicago.

Horton, a philosophy major from Grove City, will study philosophy at Boston College, with a focus on 20th-century French philosophy.

“This award rightly celebrates and acknowledges the outstanding work in research and scholarship that Cara and Sarah undertook during their undergraduate careers at Grove City College,” said H. Collin Messer, the college’s liaison to the Lilly Fellows Program. “Moreover, the fact that two of our students won the Lilly this year is a testimony to the great dedication and thoughtfulness of our faculty, who care deeply about helping our students develop a robust connection between their faith and their vocation as Christian intellectuals.”

Messer serves as professor and chairman of the English Department.

The 10 fellows were selected from 44 applicants from 97 schools that are part of the Lilly Fellows Program National Network of Church-Related Colleges and Universities.

The three-year program begins with a conference in August in Indianapolis with their designated academic mentors. Over the course of the program, they will meet regularly with mentors, participate in a long-distance colloquium and attend additional conferences.

The fellowship comes with an annual stipend of $3,000.

Founded in 1991 and funded by a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., the Lilly Fellows Program in the Arts and Humanities “supports outstanding students who want to explore the connections among Christianity, higher education and the vocation of the teacher-scholar” and “seeks to strengthen the quality and shape the character of church-related institutions of higher learning,” according to the program’s website.