For the fourth year in a row, the University of Lynchburg’s chapter of Phi Alpha Theta National History Honor Society, Alpha Beta Upsilon, was named “Best Chapter” for Division 1, which includes colleges and universities with fewer than 3,000 students.
The honor reflects the chapter’s accomplishments over the 2024-25 academic year.
“I’m so pleased that all of the hard work of the Alpha Beta Upsilon chapter was recognized by Nationals for a fourth year in a row,” said Dr. Lisa Crutchfield, chapter faculty advisor and associate professor of history at Lynchburg.
“The students put their heart and soul into research, presentations, volunteering, building community, and promoting history around campus and across the community. We accomplished so much last year under the executive leadership of Maddy Brainard [’25] and Mac White [’25], and we continued all of those initiatives this year under the leadership of Joel Butcher [’26] and Jackson Stone [’27].
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“We are therefore looking forward to applying for the 2026 Best Chapter Award this summer!”
During the 2024-25 academic year, Alpha Beta Upsilon members held events on campus to promote historical study. They volunteered for local history projects, including giving tours at the Quaker South River Meeting House; researching, transcribing, cataloging, and preserving artifacts at Claytor Nature Center’s Cloverlea Farmhouse; and doing archival newspaper research for a project involving the former Counter Ridge School in Bedford County.
At Historic Sandusky, a house museum owned and operated by the University, chapter members helped Executive Director Greg Starbuck ’14 MA, ’19 MA, research, photograph, and catalog indigenous and early American artifacts.
At the 2025 Virginia Regional Conference, eight members presented their research and four earned awards, including two second and two third places. Two members also presented their research at the 2025 Phi Alpha Theta National Conference in Washington, D.C.
Alpha Beta Upsilon members attended on-campus lectures and presented their research at the University’s annual Student Scholar Showcase. They went on field trips to the National Museum of the U.S. Army and the White House Visitor Center, where they met with Mike Muñoz ’24, a Lynchburg history alumnus who is a park ranger at the visitor center.
In an email to the campus community on April 30, University President Dr. Alison Morrison-Shetlar sent a “massive ‘Huzzah!’ for the … Phi Alpha Theta chapter.”
She also congratulated Butcher for placing second at the Virginia Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society Regional Conference and concluded, “This ‘four-peat’ should be widely celebrated! Go Hornets!”
At the regional conference, held at Virginia Military Institute on April 18, Butcher earned second place in the American History category for his work on “Cultural Factors in the Destruction of the American Bison.”
“Joel’s research and presentation were both superb, and in a competitive field with over a dozen higher institutions represented,” Crutchfield said. “I’m thrilled that he was externally recognized with an award for his impressive work.”
