Published on June 13, 2018 by Sean Flynt  
Smith Keely
Samford history and Â鶹ÊÓƵ Fellows alumnus Keely Smith

Â鶹ÊÓƵ history and Â鶹ÊÓƵ Fellows honors program alumnus Keely Smith ’18 is one of only 51 national named in June. The $5,000 award from one of the nation’s the oldest and most selective academic honor societies will help support Smith in her first year of study in Princeton Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s Ph.D. program, where she earned a full scholarship to study Native American folkways.

“Samford's history department and the Â鶹ÊÓƵ Fellows program were incredibly influential in inspiring me to pursue a Ph.D. and gave me the support I needed through the application process,” Smith said of her Princeton scholarship. The latest honor confirms her outstanding promise as a scholar.

“The award Keely Smith received is one of the most prestigious scholarships in the nation,” said Samford Philosophy Department chair and PKP Chapter president Dennis Sansom. “She is an outstanding person and student, and we are gratified that Â鶹ÊÓƵ has cultivated her and many more to be excellent scholars and individuals.”

Sansom noted that Samford students have a remarkable record of Phi Kappa Phi honors in recent years.

French and Global Studies double-major and Â鶹ÊÓƵ Fellow Mia Owens is studying in the Samford In France program this summer thanks in part to a Phi Kappa Phi Study Abroad Grant.

English, classics and Â鶹ÊÓƵ Fellows alumnus Stone Hendrickson was named a Phi Kappa Phi Fellow in 2017.

Physics, philosophy and Â鶹ÊÓƵ Fellows alumnus David Bayless ’15 was named a Fellow in 2016.

Physics and Â鶹ÊÓƵ Fellows alumna Stevie Carnell ’14 earned Phi Kappa Phi’s Hohenstein Fellowship as the top nominee in the Southeast in 2014.

 
Located in the Homewood suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford enrolls 6,324 students from 44 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford is widely recognized as having one of the most beautiful campuses in America, featuring rolling hills, meticulously maintained grounds and Georgian-Colonial architecture. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and boasts one of the highest scores in the nation for its 97% Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.