Arkansas Alumni Association Presents Senior Honor Citations

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – University of Arkansas graduating seniors Clint Shoemake of Bartlesville, Okla., and Katie McGehee of Ozark were recognized with the 2013 Senior Honor Citation during the Arkansas Alumni Association Board of Directors luncheon on May 10.

The award was established 48 years ago by the Alumni Association, the award honors a senior male and female who exhibit outstanding academic achievement, campus and community involvement, and leadership. Students were required to be a member of the graduating class of 2013 (finishing degree requirements in August or December 2012 or May 2013.) The citation includes a personal memento, a $500 cash award, life membership in the Arkansas Alumni Association and permanent recognition on the student honor wall at the Janelle Y. Hembree Alumni House.

Clint Shoemake of Bartlesville, Okla., is a recipient of the 2013 Senior Honor Citation.

Shoemake, a Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellow with the U.S. Department of State, received his degree in anthropology and political science. He has studied abroad three times in Tanzania, India and Ghana. He said he is grateful for the many opportunities to travel abroad and experience the world while researching African politics, human rights and forced migration, as well as female entrepreneurs.

Shoemake aims to work in the realm of foreign policy. He said working with “outstanding mentors” and learning Arabic, French and Swahili, “has prepared me to represent the United States to the world.” This summer, he will serve as an intern in the office of the coordinator for Cuban affairs with the U.S. Department of State before pursuing a master’s degree in law and diplomacy from Tufts or Columbia University, a decision he has yet to make.

A dedicated leader on campus, Shoemake served as the president of Students for a Free Tibet. He organized a fundraiser to benefit Tibetans, as well as the Seven Hills Homeless Center.  Encouraging others to donate food to the center, local merchant, Fayettechill Clothing Co. agreed that for every can donated, they would donate $1 toward educating Tibetan refugee children.

Katie McGehee of Ozark is a recipient of the 2013 Senior Honor Citation.

McGehee, a University of Arkansas alumni-endowed scholar and Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences scholarship recipient, received her degree in poultry science with a minor in environmental, soil and water sciences. She said she never imagined growing up to be “the girl who raises chickens in Africa,” but McGehee credits the University of Arkansas with a quality education that helped to refine her skills and talents. She said that education led to a path “that has proven to be more challenging and fulfilling than I could have ever dreamed on my own.”  She based her thesis on a commercial poultry operation in Rwanda where she worked and studied and said she looks forward to the day when she can return and work to aid in Africa’s agriculture future.

McGehee believes it is important to get involved in something that is bigger than yourself and embraced the various leadership opportunities presented to her on campus. She served as the president of the Poultry Science Club, she and six officers organized the club’s involvement within the community, the department and the poultry industry. Earlier, while serving as club treasurer, she helped produce a video for the Pfizer’s Reach, Teach, Learn Grant, which earned a $3,000 grant for the poultry education program.