Illinois College marks 10th annual Celebration of Excellence in Jacksonville

Takako Soma, an associate professor of computer science, took Illinois College’s highest faculty honor as nine students entered Phi Beta Kappa and two more were named student marshals, putting the school’s academic pipeline on display for Jacksonville.

The 10th annual Celebration of Excellence unfolded Friday, April 17, in Sherman Gymnasium at the Bruner Fitness and Recreation Center, where Provost Catharine O’Connell delivered opening remarks for the honors convocation. Illinois College said five major awards were presented recognizing academic excellence, service and teaching.

Soma received the Harry Joy Dunbaugh Distinguished Professor Award, which Illinois College describes as its highest recognition for a faculty member. Ella Ausmus ’27 and Evan Cooper ’27 were named student marshals for the upcoming academic year, a role that puts them among the most visible student leaders on campus.

The college also recognized Alex Moore and Angela Bentley with the Don P. Filson Faculty Award for Vision for the Future. Another award, the Julian Monson Sturtevant Campus Leadership Award, highlighted students for outstanding service and leadership, underscoring that the day was meant to honor more than grades alone.

Phi Beta Kappa provided the clearest sign of academic selectivity. Illinois College’s Epsilon chapter, founded by Charles Rammelkamp in 1931, inducted nine students in 2026: Miranda Araujo ’26, Glenn Conway ’26, Nicholas Doroskin ’26, Beamlak Tesfaye Hiltework ’26, Payton Richard Johnson ’26, Ryan Kuchar ’26, Haydn Leonard ’26, Peyton Merreighn ’26 and Kahli O’Neal ’26. Illinois College says its chapter is one of only 11 in Illinois, which makes each induction a notable marker for the school and the city that hosts it.

The celebration stretched well beyond the convocation. Illinois College said the daylong event included concurrent student sessions, a music honors recital, theatre presentations, a poster session and departmental award presentations, all part of a spring tradition that closes the academic year. That structure matters in Jacksonville because it turns campus achievement into a public event, one that shows how research, performance and teaching feed into the college’s identity.

Academic excellence has been a hallmark of Illinois College since its founding in 1829, and the Celebration of Excellence has become a recurring way to show that tradition in action. The college held the 10th annual event virtually for the first time in 2020, then carried it forward in person again, a reminder that the recognition of student work and faculty leadership has remained central through changing years on campus.