FSU’s Sarah Sunday Awarded Phi Kappa Phi Pioneer Award
Sep 2, 2025 9:00 AM
Frostburg State University student Sarah Sunday was recently awarded a Pioneer Award worth $1,000 from The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi – the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. Sunday is one of 50 students nationwide to receive the award. She was initiated into FSU’s Phi Kappa Phi in 2025.
“I have faced a lot of adversity the past year, and I am truly blessed to have received the Pioneer Award,” said Sunday. “Not only does it take the burden of paying for school off my back, but it also redirects my focus towards my rigorous academic life. I think that adapting to change and embracing every pitfall really helped me to be a better person. I am so thankful to be the recipient of the Pioneer Award.”
The Pioneer Awards are designed to encourage and reward undergraduate members of Phi Kappa Phi for developing the research, engagement and leadership skills necessary to become a successful scholar. The selection process for the award is based on an applicant’s academic achievement, honors and awards, relevant research experience, service and leadership experience both on and off campus and a personal statement and letter of recommendation.
Sunday is highly involved at FSU. In addition to being a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, she is a member of the President’s Leadership Circle, the National Society of Leadership and Success and Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society. Sunday is also the vice president of National Residence Hall Honorary, the senior vice president of Delta Sigma Pi and serves as both a resident assistant and a learning assistant.
“We are pleased and excited that one of our undergraduate members was selected for this prestigious recognition,” said Dr. Linda Steele, FSU’s chapter president. “Sarah is an outstanding scholar who is certainly deserving of this award.”
The Pioneer Award, established in 2022, is the newest addition to the Society’s robust portfolio of award and grant programs, which currently gives more than $1 million each year to outstanding students and members through graduate and dissertation fellowships, funding for post-baccalaureate development, and grants for local, national and international literacy initiatives. Phi Kappa Phi is proud to offer an award exclusively for undergraduates through this program.
To learn more about the Pioneer Award and other Phi Kappa Phi awards, visit www.phikappaphi.org/awards.
ABOUT PHI KAPPA PHI
Founded in 1897, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. Phi Kappa Phi inducts approximately 20,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni annually. The Society has chapters on more than 300 select colleges and universities in the United States and its territories. Membership is by invitation only to the top 10 percent of seniors and graduate students and 7.5 percent of juniors. Faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction also qualify. The Society's mission is to "cultivate a community that celebrates and advances the love of learning." For more information, visit www.PhiKappaPhi.org.