Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Three Mississippi State University graduate students are winners of top awards in regional competition sponsored by the national history honor society.
Brian E. McNeil of Madison, Ala., and Benjamin L. Clanton of Gore Springs took first- and second-place honors, respectively, for presentations of their master's degree-level research at the Phi Alpha Theta conference held at Jackson State University.
At the doctoral level, Harrison Taylor of Troy, Ala., won first place. His and the two other awards going to MSU students were among only six given at the meeting.
Founded in 1921, PAT is the professional organization of history teachers, writers and students. Promotion of research, quality teaching, publication, and the exchange of learning and ideas are its primary goals.
In addition to MSU and JSU, the organization's Mississippi region includes nine other public and private colleges and universities in the Magnolia State.
A 2004 Auburn University graduate, McNeil received the top graduate-level award for his study of how average Mississippians felt about the 1962 campus riots stemming from the Kennedy Administration's efforts to integrate the University of Mississippi.
Clanton, a 2005 summa cum laude MSU graduate, was praised for his examination of the 1955 insect devastation of North Mississippi's cotton crop and the positive responses resulting from its impact.
Taylor, who completed an MSU master's degree in 2005, was recognized for his doctoral-level investigation of the integral role--and unintended consequences--played by Southern Presbyterians in their effort to transform the church during the late 18th century.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For additional information on the students' research papers, contact them via the history department's office number, 662-325-3604.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.