WEST PLAINS, Mo. – Missouri State University-West Plains (MSU-WP) graduate Faith Collins, Alton, was among six students who recently received Missouri State University’s 2024-2025 Citizen Scholar Award.
The awards were presented Thursday, Dec. 12, by the Missouri State University Board of Governors at the group’s regular meeting in Springfield.
Established in fall 2007, the award is given annually to students “who exemplify the concept of a citizen scholar,” university officials said.
“Students like Faith Collins are rare,” said MSU-WP Chancellor Dennis Lancaster. “Her intellect, creativity and courage immediately capture your attention and inspire you to learn more about this remarkable young woman. While the Citizen Scholar Award is a fitting honor, it only begins to reflect the deep respect our campus holds for Faith. I’m incredibly proud of her and eagerly look forward to seeing where her talents will lead in the years to come.”
More about Collins
Collins graduated summa cum laude from MSU-WP with an Associate of Arts in General Studies degree with a Specialization in Honors in May 2024. She is seeking a bachelor’s degree in professional writing with a minor in Ozarks studies from MSU. She is currently serving an internship in the Ozark Heritage Resource Center at the Garnett Library.
During her time at MSU-WP, Collins was actively involved in Christian Campus House, regularly participating in worship services and bible study and serving as a reserve worship team member.
She also was an active participant in the William and Virginia Darr Honors Program and the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, serving as the latter’s treasurer. She received the Outstanding Academic Achievement and Leadership Award in 2024 and was recognized on the campus’ Chancellor’s List.
Off campus, Collins worked for 10 years in her family’s beekeeping business, owning more than 20 hives. She managed bees for honey production, including identifying and treating them for diseases and pests, manipulating for hive increase or replacement, queen rearing and building equipment. She also assisted in honey production, including extraction, bottling and selling products at area festivals.
Collins has competed in nearly 60 chess tournaments, placing first in the Memphis Open-Amateur in 2021 and first in the Missouri Novice State Class Championship in 2019.
She is actively involved in her home church, Eagle Heights Baptist Church in Westr Plains, playing violin for special music presentations, setting up vacation bible school activities and participating in a mission trip to Memphis, Tennessee, and disaster cleanup in Thomasville with the Eleven Point River Baptist Association.
Writing and publishing activities
Collins has begun putting her writing skills to use with the publication of several articles, including “Bees and a Solar Eclipse” in the American Bee Journal (Nov. 2017) and “The Future of Beekeeping in the Missouri Ozarks: Lack of Forage and the Proliferation of Pests and Pesticides” in Elder Mountain (2020).
She served as associate editor of Field Trip by James Fowler (2021) and as general editor of Elder Mountain: A Journal of Ozarks Studies (2022). She also copyedited Celebrating Tolkien’s Legacy: Essays by Nancy Bunting, Seamus Hamill-Keays and Toby Widdicomb (fall 2024).
Her presentations have included “Beekeeping in the Ozarks: A Madman’s Pursuit” at the 14th annual Ozarks Studies Symposium hosted by MSU-WP and her whitepaper “Logging, National Forest and Carbon Credits” at MSU-WP’s first Academic Symposium in 2022.
What others said about Collins
Collins’ dedication to her studies and her work have caught the attention of many in her circle. “Faith is an excellent student who values education and serves as a model student, and she serves as a model with a grace and quiet humility that prompts her peers’ admiration and respect,” said an MSU-WP faculty member.
The faculty member pointed out that Collins has taken several classes suggesting a strong interest in ethics and the philosophies of living. “Hobbies and personal interests are seldom part of the discussion of ethical leadership, but they are an important expression of such because these are the things we choose to devote ourselves to when we have personal time….Faith’s hobbies and personal interests, such as the practice of her chosen faith, competitive chess, small farming, playing the violin, hiking, nature study and beekeeping – all of which are sustainable, develop the body and mind, contribute to the wellbeing of herself and others – are evidence of her ethics in daily action.”
The civic impact of these pursuits, the faculty member said, cannot be overestimated. “Many of Faith’s hobbies and interests are expressions of this essential civic engagement of respecting, studying, and protecting the fragile and threatened aspects of nature. Her activities of fishing, hunting, hiking, camping, morel hunting, gardening, and especially beekeeping are activities that connect people to the natural world, teach them to respect it, and prompt them to care for it. Wendell Berry said, “I will serve the earth and not pretend I can do better.” Serving the earth or at least pursuing interests that tread lightly upon it and deepen our understanding of it, might be the greatest form of civic engagement,” the faculty member said.
One of Collins’ nominators pointed out her love for and fascination with her home region will make her one of the significant figures in the world of Ozarks Studies and Ozarks chronicling. “She has already immersed herself in that work,” the nominator said, pointing to her internship with the OHRC where she transcribes oral histories and indexes the center’s collection of Ozarks magazines, among other activities.
“Faith Collins is the very embodiment of a Citizen Scholar,” the nominator said, adding that in all his years at MSU, “I have encountered no student more deserving of this award.”
Other Citizen Scholar recipients
Other recipients of the award this year include:
- Ashlie German, a senior from Springfield who is seeking a degree in supply chain, logistics and operations management with minors in business analytics and Spanish.
- Michael Guilfoy, a senior from Des Peres, who is majoring in political science and modern language,
- Simoriah Longhorn, graduate student, O’Fallon, Illinois, who is studying nutrition and dietetics.
- Kayla Pfitzner, graduate student, Springfield, who is pursuing an MBA and a graduate certificate in marketing analytics.
- Gerald Schiele IV, senior, Kansas City, Missouri, who is majoring in accounting.
The Citizen Scholar Award is given to students who have contributed to the university, advanced the university’s public affairs mission, and have significantly engaged in extra-curricular accomplishments and/or in significant service activities to the community.
Each recipient receives a crystal globe in recognition of the award, and their names are added to the Citizen Scholar Wall at Plaster Student Union on the Springfield campus.
For more information about the Citizen Scholar Award, visit StudentAffairs.MissouriState.edu/CitizenScholarAward.htm.
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