Student Stories

Gold Reel Film Festival: X marks the tenth anniversary of the UNC Charlotte student film festival on Friday, April 21 at 6 p.m., celebrating student films at the fabulous Independent Picture House. Students in Rodney Stringfellow’s “Film Festivals: Production & Theory” class in the Film Studies program, part of Interdisciplinary Studies, have organized the festival to showcase films created by over two dozen student filmmakers.

Scholarship recipients Zach Bessant and Toni Moss have benefitted from scholarships and other life-changing opportunities offered through OASES. They shared their stories at the recent OASES scholarship event.

Christian Rios is a double major in political science and history with a minor in American studies. His involvement on campus ranges from being a Niner guide, previously a Student Senator and now the current Student Government Association chief of staff. He also participates in the Mock Trial club and works in the Popp Martin Student Union as a reservation specialist. As a senior, he will be the first in his family to obtain a high school diploma and to graduate with a bachelor’s degree. 

The nation’s most prestigious academic honor society, Phi Beta Kappa, installed a new chapter at UNC Charlotte on April 20. Following the installation, the new Theta of North Carolina chapter inducted 68 UNC Charlotte students, selected for their academic excellence in the arts and sciences. The chapter also inducted 11 Foundation members, each chosen for their commitment to the ideals of the liberal arts and sciences.

UNC Charlotte’s new Phi Beta Kappa chapter, Theta of North Carolina, will induct its first class of Phi Beta Kappa students  on Wednesday, April 20, 2022. The chapter also will be officially installed at the ceremony that will include UNC Charlotte students, faculty, staff and alumni, and community leaders.

UNC Charlotte’s speech team won third place at the Novice National Championship Forensics Tournament in early March at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. The award recognizes the top novice competitors from across the country in competitive public speaking, debate, and interpretation of literature.

Betsabe Rojas Gonzalez is one of the first UNC Charlotte students or alumni ever chosen for the highly competitive Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Program graduate fellowship. Fellows receive up to $84,000 for two years of graduate studies, internships, and other professional development opportunities and have the opportunity to work as a U.S. Foreign Service officer.

UNC Charlotte health psychology doctoral student Jan Mooney is expanding her research in maternal health, with support from a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Intramural Research Training Award. The fellowship from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development will allow Mooney to work closely with NIH scientists.

Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious academic honor society, has approved a chapter for UNC Charlotte. The University joins an elite group of just 10% of U.S. colleges and universities approved to shelter a chapter.

As a student attending rural North Carolina grade schools and a Raleigh high school that is majority white, Candace Silver saw just a few other Black faces in her classes, if any. Lessons and books paid little attention to telling Black people’s stories, she recalls. Now, as the inaugural recipient of the new Gregory Mixon-Sonya Ramsey Black Lives Matter Scholarship, Silver continues to grow her understanding and appreciation for a broader view that includes the contributions and struggles of Black people throughout history.