Meet Honors College student Tyler Evans! His research on baseball pioneer Buck O’Neill was recently published in Black Ball Vol. 9, a peer-reviewed journal exploring the history of Negro Leagues Baseball. Learn more about his work below.

1. What is your year and major?
   

   I’m a junior majoring in business administration with an emphasis in marketing. I’m also pursuing a minor in statistics.

2. How long have you been a part of UMKC Honors College?
   

   Since my freshman year – Fall 2015.

3. How did Dr. Wood’s class inspire you to write this article?
   

   The assignment of “Honors 215: Researching Kansas City” was to pursue a research project about a topic in Kansas City we found to be interesting. I am a lifelong baseball fan and wanted to learn more about Negro Leagues Baseball, a league of African American and Black Caribbean ballplayers who were excluded from Major League Baseball (MLB) because of segregation. In my opinion, Kansas City is a focal point of Negro Leagues Baseball research as Kansas City is the current home of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. In addition, the Kansas City Monarchs were the longest existing Negro Leagues team, as the played approximately 35 years. Specifically, I wanted to focus on Monarchs’ first baseman and prominent Kansas Citian, Buck O’Neil. I admired Buck O’Neil because of his eternal optimism.

   I wanted to learn about the roots of O’Neil’s benevolent character and raise awareness of what he has done for the Kansas City community and the game of baseball. Though O’Neil was born in Florida, he loved Kansas City and considered this community to be his home. Therefore, there were a lot of resources at my disposal to write an interesting research paper about O’Neil and Negro Leagues Baseball. For example, I had the opportunity to interview O’Neil’s longtime friend and current director of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, Bob Kendrick. I also had the opportunity to interview another friend of O’Neil and prominent sports journalist, Joe Posnanski.

   At first, I thought interviewing O’Neil and Posnanski was a pipe dream, but Dr. Wood encouraged me to shoot for the stars and request to interview them. I was apprehensive, thinking they would not want to be bothered by a college student, but Dr. Wood answered, “Ask them. Why not? The worst thing that could happen is they say, ‘No’”. This journalistic determination drove me to succeed in attaining interviews from Kendrick and Posnanski along with other primary sources.

   In addition, Dr. Wood inspired us to think beyond the goal of getting a specific grade. The goal of Honors 215 was not to complete the paper in order to attain an ‘A,’ but to write an excellent research paper in order to receive the accolade of publishing it in a journal, which was another factor that made me passionate about the class and project.

4. This is a huge accomplishment; how did the Honors College help you achieve this goal?
   

   The Honors College helped me achieve this goal by offering this interesting course (Honors 215), allowing me to work with Dr. Wood, who drastically improved my writing skills. Also, interacting and receiving feedback from honors students in the class was helpful and improved my article. My peers could empathize with my struggles throughout the research process (as they faced similar obstacles) and would help me move further in my research, such as brainstorming ideas when I was struggling to form a thesis statement, helping me overcome writer’s block, and suggesting how I could express my thoughts more concisely.

5. Now that your article is published, do you have any upcoming projects?
   

   In Dr. Wood’s Discourse III class, I wrote a research paper about the Kansas City No Violence Alliance (KC NoVA), which is a multifaceted coalition that strives to reduce gun violence in Kansas City. KC NoVA consists of the police department, city hall, prosecutor’s office, and other public and private organizations who have united to make Kansas City a safer community. KC NoVA uses a unique policing strategy that analyzes networks of people involved in gun violence, identifies who is at the core of this activity, and attempts to persuade these people to stop committing violence. I find KC NoVA to be an interesting initiative because it attempts to forge a stronger connection between the police department and the community. In addition, one of KC NoVA’s goals is to offer those affected by gun violence every opportunity to leave this situation by helping them attain employment, providing counseling, and even offering housing away from the violence. I enjoyed this project as I was able to interview police officers, social workers, prosecutors, and criminal justice professors associated with KC NoVA. I plan to submit this research article to Lucerna.

6. What advice would you give to a student looking to publish research?
   

   Never give up and never belittle yourself or your work. Don’t be afraid to ask for interviews or help with your research because as Dr. Wood said to me, “The worst thing they can say is ‘No’”. Keep digging for answers to seemingly impossible questions. After you complete your research, do not belittle your work, thinking that it will be rejected – submit it! Again, the worst thing they can say is, “No,” and even if it is rejected the editors will provide feedback of how you can improve your paper. Also, I would recommend taking courses with Dr. Wood. She is an excellent professor that pushes her students to produce their best work. I have developed substantially as a writer because of Dr. Wood and would not have achieved publication without her guidance and expertise.

Honors College Assistant Teaching Professor Dr. Stephen Christ joined the Honors College team at the start of the 2016-2017 school year. Read further to learn more about Dr. Christ!

1. What courses do you teach at UMKC?

This semester, I taught Social Deviance, Anchor H299: Social Justice, and Anchor H399: Self, Society and the Sacred. In the spring, I will teach Social Deviance, Social Problems, and Anchor H298: The Idea of Culture.

2. Of the classes you are teaching in the spring, which class are you most excited about?

Social deviance, because everyday you get to talk about something that is pretty wild.

3. Where did you receive your educational background?

University of Missouri-Columbia.

4. What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

I enjoy being active in sports (tennis, running, golf), reading, playing guitar, stargazing, and making time-lapse videos.

5. What is the best advice you would give to a college student?

Believe in yourself. If you believe in yourself, you won’t take no for an answer—you won’t be devastated if you don’t get a scholarship. You’ll keep going.

Third-year Honors College student Samira Zantout is co-president of the Honors College Student Association (HCSA). The organization meets every other Wednesday from 3:00-4:00pm in Cherry Hall, room 415. All honors students are welcome to attend!

1. In your own words, how would you describe HCSA as an organization, and what is its primary mission within the Honors College?

   I would describe HCSA as the aspiring Social Chair of the Honors College. HCSA is the student platform for change and social networking: it is through HCSA that any student can voice their opinions and ideas and turn those ambitions into reality.

2. What is your role in HCSA, and how long have you been a part of the organization?
   

   I am the Co-President of HCSA, alongside my fellow Co-President Deena Essa. This is my third year in the Honors College, and my first year as an active member of HCSA.

3. What is an exciting project that the organization currently has in place?
   

   The most recent project we are very excited to put together is the Thanksgiving Potluck coming up before thanksgiving break: who doesn’t love free food and Gates BBQ? Our spring semester will be packed with ice skating nights to de-stress the start of the semester, movie and picnic nights under the stars, a Student Speaker Event to give our students a professional platform to spread their ideas, hangouts at Chipotle and outings at Yogurtini, etc.!

4. Why did you decide to be involved and run for leadership in this organization? What is advantageous about taking part in the group?
   

   The Honors College is always evolving and growing, with the most recent changes shifting HCSA’s platform from being curriculum-oriented to student-oriented. Deena and I saw an opportunity to give HCSA a new identity that will better serve and unite our Honors students. We ran for office to bring that vision to life! Taking part in HCSA has been particularly eye-opening to the diverse interests that exist in our program. It is extremely satisfying to know that I’m taking part in serving and uniting all of those different voices!

Honors College sophomore Josie Pennington is the President of Alpha Lambda Delta, and she wants you to join! She recently answered a few of our questions about the organization, and what it means to her:

1. What is Alpha Lambda Delta?

Alpha Lambda Delta is an honor society that students are invited to join after their first semester at UMKC if they have attained a 3.5 GPA or higher, are ranked in the top 20% of their class, and are enrolled as full-time students. We encourage high academic achievement and challenge each of our members to get involved in the UMKC and Kansas City communities through various service projects.

2. How can students get involved?

After your first semester at UMKC, if you have met the eligibility requirements, you will receive an invitation from us to join! I definitely encourage anyone who is interested in getting involved to come to our first informational session on Alpha Lambda Delta, taking place November 2nd at 6pm.

3. How have you benefited from this organization?

Because Alpha Lambda Delta encourages students in their second semester at UMKC to become the next year’s leadership, it offers an amazing opportunity that not many other organizations can. For example, I became the president of a chapter of a nationally recognized honor society in only my sophomore year because of the way we are organized – most of our leadership positions will be held by sophomores or students going into their third semester. Whether you seek out a position on the executive team or want to take lead on a service project or become the head of a committee, ALD is full of invaluable leadership opportunities.

4. What’s the best advice you have for students wanting to get involved on campus?

Just do it. I know that it can seem daunting or inconvenient or less fun than just going home and watching Netflix, but I promise it will enrich your life here at UMKC so much. Whether you choose to do that through an honor society like ALD or an on-campus job or an intramural or an organization through your academic unit, just do it. Once you put yourself out there and start getting regularly involved, you won’t regret it.

Interested in learning more? Contact us and we’ll put you in touch with the right people!