July 15, 2026
From the Newsroom to the Statehouse
Story by Logan Jackson While Anna Boyle expected to spend her time at the University of Missouri chasing story ideas and writing on deadline as a journalism major, she didn’t expect to find a new area of interest – politics. Boyle, a senior, has since added a constitutional democracy minor and spent significant time in Jefferson City last semester, serving as a legislative intern for two representatives in the Missouri House of Representatives. “Within journalism there are naturally a lot of political conversations,” Boyle said. “Being in that space and part of those conversations sparked an…
July 14, 2026
Finding History in the Fishbowl
Story by Logan Jackson As a senior constitutional democracy major, Abby Plenge has spent countless hours on the fourth floor of Jesse Hall, the home of the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy. While the entire space has served as a special place for Plenge, there is one spot that has always been a bit more unique – the fishbowl. A study space utilized by constitutional democracy students, the fishbowl features a decades-old mural painted by James P. Hatfield, a Mizzou graduate and longtime college professor. During Plenge’s time as a marketing ambassador for the Kinder Institute, her…
May 17, 2026
Connecting Health, History and Humanity
Story and photos by Logan Jackson For Carolyn Orbann, anthropology has always been about people — their stories, their cultures, the systems they build and the ways they care for one another across time. That curiosity has carried her from childhood years spent overseas in Kenya and South Africa to archaeological work in Joshua Tree National Park, and eventually to classrooms and research laboratories at the University of Missouri, where she now mentors Tigers exploring questions about health, policy and human behavior. This spring, Orbann, a teaching professor in the College of Health Sciences and affiliate…
May 14, 2026
From First-Year Fellow to Future Scientist
Story by Logan JacksonPhotos by Chris Wang An updated radiopharmaceutical chemistry textbook will be published this spring, detailing the latest advancements and clinical successes in the field. When Nora Pryor gets her copy, she already knows which page she’ll flip to first. Among the discussions of emerging cancer treatments and diagnostic technologies will be a chapter Pryor helped write as an undergraduate student at the University of Missouri. “I’m going to see the pages of the textbook and be like, ‘I wrote that,’” Pryor said. “That is going to be crazy.” For Pryor, the…
May 13, 2026
Lilley Halloran Leaves Mizzou With Global Journalism Experience and Passion for Public Radio
Story by Riley PalshawPhotos courtesy of Lilley Halloran From first visiting the University of Missouri as a prospective Stamps Scholar to reporting in Brussels for POLITICO Europe and working in nearly every corner of the Missouri School of Journalism, senior Lilley Halloran is leaving Mizzou with far more than a college degree. Halloran, a constitutional democracy and journalism double major from St. Louis, Missouri, said she quickly realized during her Stamps Scholarship interview weekend that Mizzou, and especially the Honors College, could offer opportunities beyond the classroom. “Getting to meet faculty from so many different…
May 11, 2026
Leading Across Campus: Wyatt Carlson Earns Electrical Engineering Degree
Story by Kaiya LynchPhotos courtesy of Wyatt Carlson On a warm spring day during his junior year of high school, Wyatt Carlson stood on campus without expecting to choose the University of Missouri. “I grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, with my dad being from Omaha and my mom growing up on the Kansas side of the state line,” Carlson said. Because of this, Carlson had family ties to other universities, but something shifted during his Mizzou visit that was harder to quantify than rankings or financial aid packages. It was the energy. The pride.
May 7, 2026
Blue Earth Course Brings Aquatic Science to Life
Story by Sophia AndersonPhotos courtesy of Sabrina Michael Two years ago, Sabrina Michael, an assistant teaching professor, launched a General Honors College course with an ambitious goal: immerse students in the hidden worlds beneath the surface of Earth’s waters. Since then, the class has evolved through small changes and new opportunities, but its mission has stayed constant — bringing together students from a wide range of majors to explore the science, ecology and conservation of marine and freshwater ecosystems. In “Blue Earth: Aquatic Science Through SCUBA,” students study everything from aquatic organisms and water quality to the environmental challenges…
May 6, 2026
A Lifelong Student of the Classics: David Schenker’s Mizzou Legacy
Story by Logan Jackson Sitting among veteran University of Missouri faculty fully engaged in a passionate debate, David Schenker said he felt a bit like a deer caught in the headlights. Schenker had just arrived at Mizzou as a new faculty member in the Department of Classical Studies (now the Department of Classics, Archaeology, and Religion) and had been invited to teach in the long-running Honors College Humanities Sequence. The lively discussion was focused on the upcoming semester’s syllabus. “I was the youngest person in the room and was among academic giants, like Bill Bondeson, Ted Tarkow,…
May 4, 2026
From Students to Masters, Mizzou Program Builds Real-World Writing Tutors
Story by Riley PalshawPhotos by Logan Jackson Students in the University of Missouri Honors College are not just learning how to improve their own writing. In Theory and Practice of Tutoring Writing, they are learning how to help others do the same, continuing a tradition of support at the University of Missouri Writing Center that spans 50 years. The 15-week Honors College course prepares students to work in the MU Writing Center through a mix of writing, observation and hands-on experience. Led by MU Writing Center director Aaron Harms and assistant director…
April 29, 2026
Ashley McGarrah to Travel to England Through Fulbright UK Summer Institutes Program
Story by Logan Jackson Mizzou sophomore Ashley McGarrah will explore the field of social work this summer at the University of Bristol in England through the Fulbright UK Summer Institutes program. While there, McGarrah will enroll in courses tied to various social issues taught by historians, academics and practitioners. The Fulbright UK Summer Institutes program provides undergraduate students from the United States with little or no travel experience outside of North America the opportunity to explore the culture, heritage and history of the UK while experiencing higher education at a UK university. “I was unbelievably excited…