MC’s Mortar Board chapter receives three national awards

Mississippi Christian University is one of only three universities nationwide to receive the 2026 Outstanding Achievement Award for Recruitment and Selection from the Mortar Board National College Honor Society. The award recognizes achievement in areas outside of programmatic accomplishments and highlights chapters that made great strides towards increasing chapter health and visibility on campus.

In addition, Taylor Poe, MC assistant professor of mathematics, is one of only seven recipients of the society’s 2026 Excellence in Advising Award for providing exceptional leadership to the chapter through her three years as a sponsor.

MC was also the only institution of higher learning in the state of Mississippi and one of only 35 universities nationwide to receive Mortar Board’s 2026 Silver Torch Award. The award celebrates chapters that have executed all standards required of each chapter and have made a positive impact on their campus community.

Mortar Board is considered the premier national honor society recognizing college juniors and seniors for their achievements in scholarship, leadership and service. Membership in MC’s chapter is limited to about two dozen students. Poe and Katherine Heard, MC professor of psychology, served as chapter sponsors for the 2025-26 academic year.

Under Poe’s leadership, chapter membership more than doubled, and the chapter’s visibility and presence on campus reached new heights.

“I’m very touched that the students would nominate me,” said Poe, who was an MC Mortar Board member as an undergraduate student at MC. “We couldn’t have hosted the events we did without Dr. Mignon Kucia or my president and vice president, Emily Gambill and Emily Huff. The students also did a great job of recruiting, planning and hosting events.

“I had a wonderful class of students, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know many of them whom I had not had the opportunity to teach and getting to know better those I had taught. I’ll be rotating off as sponsor this year, but we have a record-size class of Mortar Board scholars at MC. I’m excited to see the impact they will make on campus.”

Founded in 1918, Mortar Board empowers students to make lasting contributions. With 236 chapters nationwide, Mortar Board is a certified member of the Association of College Honor Societies.