APRIL 2025

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2025 CHAPTER 143 PHI KAPPA PHI SCHOLARSHIP AWARDEES!

We love to share good news! This month, Phi Kappa Phi Chapter 143 gathered for a lovely spring luncheon. Each year, we enjoy this time together in the spring. . . . The awarding of scholarships is the highlight of the event.

Check out the details on our awardees and their fine work. –

Avinab De

- 2025 Chapter 143 nominee for the Phi Kappa Phi National Fellowship
- 2025 Chapter 143 John Lock Scholarship

Avi served on the Executive Board of Chapter 143 as a Student Vice President for 2024-2025. Avi is a Biology Pre-Med major. He will be attending Medical School at NEOMED.

Michelle Ani

- 2025 Chapter 143 Research Scholarship

In the summer of 2024, Michelle researched “Calcium Signaling in Cardiomyocytes with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Variants” at Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) through the cardiovascular research summer program (CardS), sponsored by the American Heart Association’s SURE program.

Grace Economus

- 2025 Chapter 143 Mavrigian-Grim Scholarship

Grace is an Accounting major and will be attending Youngstown State University to pursue her MBA. Grace served Chapter 143 as a Student Vice President. She and a former Student Vice President spearheaded the Chapter’s award-winning service project collecting items for local nursing homes.

Allison Geisler

- 2025 Chapter 143 Service Scholarship

Allison compiled over 85 service hours, primarily in support of the Second Harvest Food Bank.

Allison wrote on her application, “The harshest reality of hunger is that it does not discriminate, it can affect anyone no matter their circumstances. Knowing this, my volunteerism with Second Harvest is all the more touching and necessary.”

CONGRATULATIONS ON RECEIVING THIS HONOR AND RECOGNITION OF YOUR EFFORTS AND ABILITIES!

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March 2025

YSU PHI KAPPA PHI THANKS AND CONGRATULATES STUDENT VICE PRESIDENTS ON THEIR GOLD WINNING SERVICE PROJECT

How did they do it? THERAPY DOGS!

This past fall, Phi Kappa Phi Chapter 143 embarked on a compassionate project to brighten the lives of nursing home residents during the holiday season. In partnership with Wags n Wishes therapy dogs, chapter representatives visited several nursing homes, where they distributed holiday cards and spent quality time with residents, offering companionship and cheer! The simple but powerful presence of therapy dogs brought smiles and lifted spirits, brightening the days of many who may have felt isolated during the holiday season.

During fall finals week, the pups made an appearance on campus! With Phi Kappa Phi members joining in the event, the library hosted therapy dog sessions that offered much-needed stress relief during one of the most stressful times in any semester. Students were welcomed to stop in, take a break, pet the dogs, and… relax. Furry friends have a way of lifting away stress and anxiety, and this initiative provided the campus with a welcome moment to pause from the grind of studying in a calming and therapeutic environment during a stressful week.

The Phi Kappa Phi executive committee extends particular thanks and congratulations to the student vice presidents, as well as the returning graduated student vice president, for their efforts and dedication, which were so important to this initiative. Their efforts not only provided comfort during the holidays, and supported finals week relief, but also reinforced the chapter’s commitment to community service and well-being.

By promoting and supporting the therapeutic power of dogs in nursing homes and on campus this fall, Phi Kappa Phi Chapter 143 not only spread comfort and cheer, but also strengthened the chapter’s commitment to serving its community.

2024 AND BEFORE . . . .

Annual Fall Luncheon 2024

Our annual Chapter 143 fall luncheon took place on Wednesday, October 16 at the Kilcawley Center – Gallery.

Dr. Sal Sanders, Dean, YSU College of Graduate Studies, presented, Next Level Education.

Victoria N. Messuri has been Awarded the Phi Kappa Phi Love of Learning Award

Rocco Bruno Awarded $20,000 Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship

Rocco Bruno of Campbell, Ohio, has been selected as a recipient of a Marcus L. Urann Fellowship by The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi—the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. Bruno is one of only six recipients nationwide to receive the prestigious $20,000 fellowship, named for the Society’s founder.

Bruno received a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Youngstown State University. As a Urann Fellow, Bruno will pursue a Doctor of Medicine at The Ohio State University College of Medicine.

Since its creation in 1932, the Fellowship Program has become one of the Society’s most visible and financially well-supported endeavors, allocating $649,000 annually to outstanding students for first-year graduate or professional study. This year’s program awarded two awards at $35,000 each, the 1897 Fellowship and the Sherrill Carlson Fellowship; six $20,000 Marcus L. Urann Fellowships, named for the Society’s founder; and 54 fellowships of $8,500.

The selection process for a fellowship is based on the applicant’s evidence of graduate potential, undergraduate academic achievement, service and leadership experience, letters of recommendation, personal statement of educational perspective and career goals, and acceptance in an approved graduate or professional program.

Phi Kappa Phi Fellowships are part of the Society’s robust portfolio awards program, which gives more than $1.3 million each year to outstanding members and students on chapter campuses through study abroad grants, graduate fellowships, funding for post-baccalaureate development, member and chapter awards, and grants for local, national and international literacy initiatives.

To see the complete list of 2023 Phi Kappa Phi Fellows, visit www.phikappaphi.org/2023Fellowships.

About Phi Kappa PhiFounded in 1897, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. Phi Kappa Phi inducts approximately 25,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni annually. The Society has chapters on more than 325 select colleges and universities in the United States, its territories and the Philippines. Membership is by invitation only to the top 10 percent of seniors and graduate students and 7.5 percent of juniors. Faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction also qualify. The Society’s mission is “To recognize and advance excellence in all fields of higher education and society and engage the community of scholars in service to others.” For more information, visit www.phikappaphi.org.

Source: Phi Kappa Phi New Release – Received 071923

Spring Luncheon

Chapter 143 Spring Luncheon was held on Tuesday, April 11, 2023 in the Schwebel Room in Kilcawley Center.

Vice President Julie Centofanti presented her “Love of Learning at YSU.”

Spring Meeting

Finding the positive with Brooke Schaefers

Phi Kappa Phi welcomes graduating senior and Phi Kappa Phi member Brooke Schaefers who will share her story of how she found the positive and persevered during the pandemic. Brooke has dreamed of being a marine biologist since she was 7 years old, and now she finally gets to make that childhood dream a reality at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. Thurs., April 8, 2021 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm Via Webex