 Two MSU students named to elite USA Today All-American academic teams
Two Montana State University seniors who have distinguished themselves in the areas of Native American literature and mathematics today have been named to the 13th annual All-USA College Academic Teams. The selections were announced in today's (Feb. 27) edition of USA Today. Phenocia Bauerle, an enrolled member of the Crow Tribe who grew up in Bozeman, crafted authentic Crow stories collected 50 years ago by her family into a book to be published this year by the University of Nebraska Press. She was one of just 20 students named to the newspaper's first team. A photo and biography of her appears in today's edition. Kay Kirkpatrick of Dillon, who this year received the Alice T. Schafer Prize for the nation's best female mathematics student, was named to the third team. "These are both just amazing women," said Tracey Briggs of USA Today. MSU Pres. Geoff Gamble agrees. "We're so proud of these young women - they're great students and great citizens of the university," Gamble said. "One of the delights of being at a place like Montana State University is this kind of student, as well as a quality staff and faculty." Briggs said a quote from Andra New Holy, MSU professor in Native American Studies, that accompanied Bauerle's photo seemed to epitomize her selection. "Ms. Bauerle represents a new generation of Native scholar and leader who brings together both the power of academic excellence and the power of Native heritage," New Holy said. Bauerle, a senior majoring in English, edited the book currently titled "The Way of the Warrior: Stories from along the Elk River." The book includes authentic stories about Crow warriors who lived in the time with minimal contact with non-Indian influences, roughly 1800-1860. The stories were collected by Bauerle's grandfather, Crow elder Barney Old Coyote, who now lives in Billings, and his brother, the late Henry Old Coyote. They recorded stories that were collected from native speakers soon after the Old Coyote brothers returned from World War II as decorated heroes. The stories were family treasures until Bauerle wove them into a manuscript as part of a course taught by Alanna Brown, MSU English professor. Bauerle will receive a cash prize of $2,500 that she will use to help defray costs in moving to graduate school. Bauerle has been accepted and is deliberating between programs at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Arizona. "It's an honor for me to be included with the quality of students in this list," Bauerle said. "I am grateful that they have acknowledged the accomplishments of students in the humanities as well as students in the sciences." Kirkpatrick, a senior majoring in math, is also a pianist and mountain climber who is said to be a "genius" in the fields of abstract math and dynamics, a discipline that deals with how things change and evolve. Kirkpatrick is currently weighing graduate school offers at Stanford and the University of California, Berkeley and plans to become a math professor at a university where she can teach and do research - and climb mountains. Bauerle and Kirkpatrick were selected from more than 600 applicants for the awards. This is the first time since 1995 that an MSU student has been named to the USA Today academic first team. The last was student Loretta Krautscheid of Great Falls. The last student to make a team at any level was Chelsea Elander of Missoula, who was named to third team in 1999. Elander was later chosen as a Rhodes Scholar. In all, 17 students have been selected to USA Today academic all-American lists at some level since the contest began in 1989. Written by Carol Schmidt (cschmidt@montana.edu) and posted for 2/27/02.
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