Cadence Hatten and Vivi Ostheimer are 2026 Truman Scholars! According to Dr. Benes, having two Truman Scholars in one year has never happened before at UM, and it couldn't have happened to a finer pair. Cadence is a junior Communicative Sciences and Disorders student from Helena, and Vivi is a Journalism and Environmental Sciences and Sustainability major, minoring in Climate Change Studies. Cadence and Vivi are both DHC Ambassadors, Presidential Leadership Scholars, and were part of the DHC's delegation at this spring's Western Regional Honors Conference. They are extraordinary young women! Along with being top-performing, deeply engaged students, they are bright, highly motivated, hard-working, big-hearted servant leaders. Each of them has committed themselves to improving their communities, Vivi through her transformational work to improve composting on campus, and Cadence through her passionate advocacy alongside individuals who experience neurodivergence. Students like Vivi and Cadence give me — and all of us — hope for a brighter, more just, and sustainable world.
Speaking of extraordinary young people giving us hope, we learned just this morning that DHC Ambassador, Student Advisory Council member, Presidential Leadership Scholar, and Excellence in Research Award winner, Katia Chavez — a Wildlife Biology major from Albuquerque, New Mexico — was awarded UM's Volunteer Service Award. Katia tutors refugee high school students through Soft Landing Missoula, leads the Latiné Student Union, and reactivated two STEM student chapters at UM. She also contributes to Spanish-language radio programming and has performed conservation fieldwork with the USDA Forest Service. Congratulations, Katia!
Katia and fellow DHC Ambassadors Rayne McCoullough, Lydia Neidermeyer, and Maiya Roelen welcomed more than 50 curious, energetic Soft Landing high school students to campus this afternoon for a college information and question/answer session. What fun! DHC alums and Soft Landing program leaders Natalia Boise and Madelyn Bouchard accompanied the students, whose activities included soccer on the Oval with the Lady Grizzlies.
Last evening Honors Student Association elected officers for 2026-2027. They include: President Kaylee Hampton, Vice President Rachel Comer, Secretary Hannah Betterton, and Treasurer Maddigan Ward. Congratulations to this new team and to last year's leaders, Jaxon, Quindy, Cara, and Delaney. Lead on, HSA! I also received this lovely note re HSA from our colleague Professor Megan Stark in the Mansfield Library about the library buddy system now in place at the library: "I want to recognize the thought, care, and effort that Kaylee and Jaxon brought to this project, and extend my appreciation to you, these students, the HSA, and the entire DHC community for supporting student initiatives and pursuit of partnerships with other campus units."
On Thursday, we celebrated the 40th anniversary of Scribendi with a special tea time reception honoring the DHC contributors to the Western Regional Honors Council's arts and literary magazine. Our WRHC student representative, Quindy, kicked off the proceedings; speakers included Hanna Grass and Claire Lyle (poetry), Claire Bernard and Victoria Newmiller (short fiction), Lindsay Torres and Ella Rowland (visual art), and Kate Wendzonka (photography). Kate and Hanna were recipients of the top prizes in their respective categories. Congratulations to all!
Last evening we also took in a fabulous performance of UM Theater and Dance's production of 'Dance Underground,' featuring the wild and wide-ranging work of student choreographers. As a one-time dance dad myself, it was a special treat to see DHC'ers Hannah, Lauren, Annabelle, Taylor, Ellie, Evie, Josie — and others — bring their beautiful pieces to life. Earlier in the week, Avery and Spencer led a fun trivia night; no surprise, my best category was 60's Rock.
The week's Love class highlights included poignant and powerful readings from students' stunning Creative Non-Fiction love stories. Meanwhile, Introduction to Honors students presented their final, impressive electronic portfolios. I had a special treat to sub for Dr. Bob Baker's Ways of Knowing class; thanks to Lorenzo, Asher, Cayesh, Iris, Julian, Danica, and Audrey for a great discussion of Tolentino's smashing essay 'The Trick Mirror.'
Lots on the docket for our final couple of weeks of the semester, including:
4/25 UM Big Event
4/27 Knowles Hall/Honors LLC barbecue and year-end celebration
4/28 Climate Change Studies Symposium
4/29 UMCUR awards program
4/30 Spring Open Mic Night
4/30 Local Recruitment Open House
5/1 Celebration of Scholarships
5/3 We Did it Ourselves Documentary Film Festival
5/5 Senior Arts Showcase
5/6 QUEST Pitch Night
5/6 MOLLI 20th Anniversary
5/8 Spring Medallion Ceremony; featuring Peter & Honors Ethic Winners
5/9 Spring Commencement
There was snow on this morning's beautiful walk through the North Hills, but blue skies peeked through at sunrise. The meadowlarks serenaded us. And the Mountain Bluebirds (dozens of them!) put on a real show.
Here is Ogden Nash's Always Marry an April Girl, dedicated to my April girl, Laurie, who married me thirty-three years ago today.
Praise the spells and bless the charms, I found April in my arms. April golden, April cloudy, Gracious, cruel, tender, rowdy; April soft in flowered languor, April cold with sudden anger, Ever changing, ever true — I love April, I love you.
