OXFORD, Miss. – A University of Mississippi student is
among 60 sophomores nationwide to be named “emerging
scholars” by the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.
John Tyler Clemons, a journalism and history major from
Oxford, received $250 as part of the Phi Kappa Phi Emerging
Scholar Award, which he plans to use toward studying in
London.
Established this year, the award is available only to
rising sophomores at institutions with a Phi Kappa Phi
chapter who have a minimum of 30 semester hours of academic
credit and a cumulative grade-point average of at least
3.75.
“With (the award) being something so prestigious, I hoped
that I would get it but I really didn’t expect to,” Clemons
said. “I did the best that I could on the application and
just crossed my fingers.”
The application process included writing an essay and
answering questions about leadership experience and past
involvement in various organizations, Clemons said.
“Having seen (Clemons’) work as a freshman in the Sally
McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, he is a terrific choice
for the new award,” said John Samonds, president of UM’s
Phi Kappa Phi chapter and associate dean of the Honors
College. “I’m sure receiving recognition for his good work
will encourage him to pursue even greater things in the
future.”
Phi Kappa Phi, founded in 1897, is the nation’s oldest,
largest and most selective all-discipline honor society.
Membership is by invitation only and reserved for the top
10 percent of seniors and graduate students and 7.5 percent
of juniors at 300 select colleges and universities in North
America and the Philippines.
About 240 UM students are inducted into the honor society
each year, Samonds said.
For more information on Phi Kappa Phi, go to