Graduate Fellowships

Pryor Fellowship for Doctoral Study: Alpha Chi will award one Pryor Fellowship of $6,000 to a student in a doctoral program who has completed at least two years of graduate or professional study beyond the baccalaureate degree.

The Joseph E. Pryor Fellowship is named for Dr. Joe Pryor who served in many capacities with Alpha Chi throughout his academic career—from the advisor of the Arkansas Eta chapter at Harding University from its founding in 1957 to regional and national leadership. Dr. Pryor was the national Secretary-Treasurer from 1970 to 1983, and his last role with Alpha Chi was as its Executive Director from 1983 through 1993.

Organ & Freeman Fellowships for Master's Study: Alpha Chi will award one Organ Fellowship of $4,000 and one Freeman Fellowship of $4,000 for the first or second year of graduate or professional study beyond the baccalaureate degree.

In 2022, the Dennis M. Organ Fellowship was named in honor of Dr. Organ, an Arkansas Eta alumnus who served as Alpha Chi's national Editor of Publications beginning in 1976 and as Editor and Executive Director from 1993 until his retirement in 2012. Also in 2022, the Walden S. Freeman Fellowship was endowed by Carolyn Freeman in memory of her late husband, Dr. Walden (Wally) Freeman. Dr. Freeman served as the advisor of the Missouri Alpha and Texas Alpha Sigma chapters in addition to serving on the National Council as Region IV's secretary-treasurer and, later, as member-at-large for three terms and national secretary from 1991-1995.

Applicants in either of these two competitions (Pryor or Organ/Freeman) who submit cooperative projects or work will compete for one $3,000 award.

Eligibility check: A Pryor/Organ/Freeman applicant must have already received a baccalaureate degree, must have not won this competition previously, and must be enrolled in full-time graduate or professional study in the fall of the award year.

Pryor, Organ, and Freeman Competition Elements

I. The application form. Available in January, this online form must be submitted no later than March 5, 2024.

II. The most important aspect of the application form is evidence of scholarship; it will be judged for clarity, originality, and correctness of form. Evidence for this competition must be supplied in a form described in (A) or (B) below.

A. An academic paper in the applicant's major field

1) Papers should generally be between 10 and 25 pages long (double-spaced), saved in Word or as a PDF.
2) If an applicant submits a cooperatively written paper or project, the applicant must have written at least 50% of the submission, and only the portion of the paper written by the applicant will be judged. Writing not done specifically by the applicant must be clearly delineated in a red font or the entry will be disqualified.
3) Scientific papers or projects should begin with an abstract.

B. Other appropriate work in the applicant's major field which is predominantly without a written element

1) Recorded audio or video performances are limited to 20 minutes.
2) As part of the online application, the applicant will be asked to provide a written explanation that demonstrates an understanding of the theoretical basis for the project or subject matter.
3) No more than 10 photographs or 10 works of art may be submitted.
4) Media such as photographs, videos, audio recordings, photographed art, etc., must be saved in common file formats.

C. If either type of submission above (A or B) represents a cooperative project, the nature of the collaboration and an assessment of the applicant's contributions will be requested as part of the online application form. All cooperative submissions will be evaluated for the new $3,000 scholarship for cooperative submissions in the Pryor/Organ/Freeman competitions.

III. An official faculty assessment addressing the significance of the submission submitted by a faculty member in the field represented by the applicant's paper or project. Nominees must provide the faculty assessor's contact information as part of the online application; the assessment form will be automatically emailed to the faculty assessor upon submission of the online application form.

IV. A personal statement from the applicant outlining plans for study and detailing their extracurricular activities but not indicating financial need. The maximum length for this statement will be two pages, double-spaced, saved as a Word document titled "Statement." Applicants must upload this document as part of their online application form.

V. No additional materials will be considered, and only applications fully submitted via the online application form by the deadline will receive consideration.

If you have a situation not addressed above and need guidance, please contact Ms. Noah or Ms. Holmes at 800-477-4225 for special guidance.