History Club & Phi Alpha Theta

History Club Claims Best Student Organization, Then Hits the Road for Regional Conference

A double award night was followed by a van ride to Grand Junction, where five students presented original research — and one walked away with an outstanding paper prize.

A big night for the Pack: The History Club won Student Organization of the Year and advisor Dr. Judy Gaughan won Student Organization Advisor of the Year at the 2026 Student Involvement and Leadership Awards. The McNair Scholars program also received an award that evening — accepted on their behalf by History Club member Rosa Ramirez, a McNair Scholar herself.

Colorado State University Pueblo’s History Club is having a banner spring. On April 15, the club took home the Student Organization of the Year award at the university’s annual Student Involvement and Leadership Awards. Faculty advisor Dr. Judy Gaughan also received her own honor that night: Outstanding Student Organization Advisor. Four days later, Gaughan loaded up a university van and drove a group of students three hours west to Grand Junction, where five of them presented original research at the Colorado Regional Phi Alpha Theta Conference hosted by Colorado Mesa University.

The back-to-back recognition reflects a program that has built consistent momentum over more than a decade. Gaughan has served as faculty advisor to the History Club for all but two years since joining the CSU Pueblo faculty in 2012.

The April 15 awards ceremony also recognized the McNair Scholars program with its own honor. History Club member Rosa Ramirez, a McNair Scholar herself, accepted the award on the program’s behalf — a moment that captured, in a single gesture, the kind of student engagement that defines both organizations.

Five Presenters. One Outstanding Paper Award.

Phi Alpha Theta is the National History Honor Society, with a mission to promote the study of history through research, good teaching, publication, and the exchange of ideas among historians. CSU Pueblo’s chapter, Alpha Theta Kappa, inducted new members during the Bea Spade Memorial Lecture Series in February.

At the Grand Junction conference, presenters included Arianna Barela, Joseph Bellavia, Rosa Ramirez, and Elliot Sikes. The standout of the event was Olivia Winkelman, who received an outstanding paper award for her project “Building Comrade Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov: The New Soviet Man in Russian Ballet (1957–1969).”

Winkelman’s paper examined how the ballets Swan Lake and Spartacus served as vehicles for Soviet propaganda. Using the Soviet body politic framework and the concept of the New Soviet Man, she traced how ideological messaging reached mass audiences through the performing arts. It was her fourth time presenting at a professional academic conference.

Even students who attended without presenting came away with something. Jayson Lu said watching his peers present gave him confidence heading into his own research symposium poster presentation. “It is not nerve-wracking as I imagined, seeing my peers do it,” he said.

Beyond the Conference

The trip to Grand Junction was the latest in a series of regional and national conference appearances Gaughan has organized for students. Funding comes from a combination of department support, student grants, fundraising events — including a trivia night at the Pueblo Heritage Museum — and a #LoveCSUPueblo Give Day campaign that this year outpaced every other campaign on campus in student contributors.

Throughout the year the club organizes game nights, a nationally recognized speaker series, and weekly Friday meetings open to any student interested in history. This year’s Bea Spade Memorial Lecture brought historian Dr. Jacqueline Beatty to campus for a two-day series of public talks on women’s power in the American Revolution.

Associate Dean Steven Liebel, who also serves as chair of the Department of History and Political Science, put the club’s year in context: “Professor Gaughan is truly bridging the gap between classroom and applied work for her History honors society students by organizing and traveling with them to professional conferences.”

The History Club meets Fridays, 2:30–4 p.m., in GCB 312. New members are always welcome.