Three West Liberty University students were honored with significant achievement awards during the Alpha Chi National Convention in Nashville, Tenn., recently.

Alan Cline

“The West Liberty University chapter of Alpha Chi has been represented by our students at the national convention with much success over the past years. Alan Cline, Julia Saling and Leah Starkey have been outstanding in all facets of their education; these awards are truly deserved and reflect the passion of these students in their respective fields of study,” said Melinda Kreisberg, assistant provost and cosponsor of the Alpha Chi Academic Honorary on the Hilltop campus.

• Alan Cline, Wellsburg, W.Va., received the Edwin W. Gaston, Jr. Scholarship, worth $2,500. Cline submitted a paper on British Art Song, accompanied by a recording of him performing key works described in his paper.

“I was pleasantly surprised to receive the scholarship. It’s a great honor,” Cline said. Cline is a fifth year senior at WLU and the award money will go toward his tuition next fall.

Only 26 members of Alpha Chi received national fellowships and scholarships and 71 students applied for the one Cline received, according to Alpha Chi.

Cline plans to pursue an advanced degree in vocal performance after earning his undergraduate degree in music at WLU. He is a member of WLU’s Concert Choir and has played or sang in many ensembles, both instrumental and vocal, during his time on the Hilltop. He also plays the tuba and trombone.

From left, Julia Saling ’13 and Leah Starkey ’13.

• Julia Saling, Salineville, Ohio, received the Jeanette Wieser Prize in Exercise Science & Nutrition for her presentation, “Zinc Nutriture: A Novel Approach.” Saling will be entering Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio, in the fall and plans on becoming a physician with a focus on rural outreach.
• Leah Starkey, New Martinsville, W.Va., received the Kathryn Hoyle Bradley Prize in Health Sciences for her presentation, “The Role of Gustin in Zinc Perception and Nutriture: A Double-Blind Pilot Study.” Starkey will be entering the West Virginia University School of Medicine in the fall and plans on becoming a physician, with a specialty in pediatrics or oncology.

Saling and Starkey were among 26 presentation prizewinners, out of a field of more than 260 applicants.

Alpha Chi is a coeducational academic honor society. Since 1922 its purpose has been to promote academic excellence and exemplary character among college and university students and to honor those who achieve such distinction.

Membership is limited to the top 10 percent of juniors, seniors, and graduate students at colleges and universities that have a chapter of Alpha Chi.