More than a century after University of Maine student Marcus Urann established the university’s Phi Kappa Phi chapter, another UMaine scholar has earned the fellowship named in his honor.
Chantelle Flores of Oakland, Maine, has been selected as a Marcus Urann Fellow by the national honor society of Phi Kappa Phi. She is one of just six students nationwide to receive the fellowship this year.
The Marcus Urann Fellowship awards $15,000 to undergraduate members of Phi Kappa Phi who are entering their first year of graduate or professional study. Named for the UMaine student who established Phi Kappa Phi’s first chapter in 1897, it is among the society’s most prestigious honors. This year, Phi Kappa Phi awarded 48 fellowships nationwide, including six Marcus Urann Fellowships.
“I was honored, for one. And it was very much a surprise to me,” Flores said. “When I got the email, I thought I had received one of the $8,500 fellowships. Then I opened it up and learned it was the $15,000 one. It’s going to make such a wonderful difference in the amount of opportunities and graduate programs I can really look to. It’s such a tremendous honor.”
Flores graduated this spring as the Outstanding Graduating Student in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She earned dual degrees in English and art history, with minors in classical studies and creative writing, while also completing the Honors College. During her undergraduate career, she served as a McGillicuddy Humanities Center Undergraduate Fellow, a Zillman Art Museum Research Curatorial Fellow through the McGillicuddy Humanities Center, interned at the UMaine Writing Center and served as co-editor-in-chief of Spire magazine.
The fellowship will help Flores as she prepares to apply to graduate programs this fall.
“Winning this award really allows me to choose a program based on what I’m passionate about and what I want to do, rather than being held back by all those financial details,” she said.
Flores said the fellowship also reflects the support she received from faculty mentors throughout her undergraduate career. Her application included letters of recommendation from Justin Wolff, her honors thesis adviser and professor of art history, and professor Diana Baumbach of the Department of Art, who taught one of her first classes at UMaine.
“Winning that award also meant that I had a really wonderful faculty network that was really supportive of my postgraduate decisions,” Flores said. “It’s really cool to have that connection after graduation.”
Founded at the University of Maine in 1897, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation’s oldest and most selective multidisciplinary collegiate honor society, with more than 1.75 million members. Flores said she did not fully appreciate the university’s connection to the organization until she began preparing her fellowship application.
“I didn’t know how deep Phi Kappa Phi’s roots are at UMaine,” she said. “I feel like that’s a part of history that I didn’t really learn about until I applied. I thought, ‘That’s really cool.’”
Flores plans to apply to graduate programs this fall as she pursues her long-term goal of earning a doctorate in art history and becoming a college professor. She also enjoys teaching and said she would be happy pursuing a career in higher education or teaching in an elementary school classroom.
Looking back on the fellowship application process, Flores encourages other students to pursue opportunities, even when they seem intimidating.
“I always encourage everyone to take every opportunity that comes your way, even if you’re not sure how you want to approach it quite yet,” she said. “The scariest part was looking at that blank page. Just take it one step at a time, reach out to professors for support and don’t forget the connections you have at UMaine.”
Contact: David Nordman, david.nordman@maine.edu
