By: Dr. Andrew Yox, Honors Director
Skylar Hodson, the recent winner of the most prestigious award of Phi Theta Kappa in Texas, the Dr. Mary Hood Award, has also become the fourth winner of the Russell-Mowery Perpetual Honors Scholarship. This annual $500 award goes to an honors student who has made significant contributions to Northeast Texas culture and life.
Hodson has played a major role in the two of «Ƶ’s prize winning film efforts, and is the director of this year’s film on oil politics in Texas. Her poster on the history of Texas cinema won major awards both at the Red River Symposium, and at the McGraw Hill Poster contest last spring. Both her poems and images have won awards at the Northeast Texas Poetry Readings. This fall, she will be presenting her film history essay at the meeting of the East Texas Historical Association at Nacogdoches, and her work in films at «Ƶ at the meeting of the National Collegiate Honors Council in Kansas City.
“Hodson is what we might call an ‘innervative’ «Ƶ success story of the first order,” notes Dr. Andrew Yox, «Ƶ Honors Director. There was a period of adjustment when she first came to «Ƶ. But once she espied what was at stake, and what her capabilities were, she rocketed right to the forefront. Her skein of scholarly successes, her cultural influence, has been remarkable.”
The three other Russell-Mowery Scholars have also posted out-of-the-ordinary achievements. The first, Israel Perez, was «Ƶ’s first scholar to publish an article—on Bo Pilgrim—in the Texas Handbook, and he transferred to UT Austin. Jordan Chapin two years ago placed on the All-USA team, a top-twenty in the nation designation, and last year, Michelle Calderon became the lone national winner of the Gordon Graham Award.
Hodson is the daughter of Brian and Jennifer Hodson of Titus County, and was homeschooled.
