Significant Scholars

By Matt Hawkins

A long-term Arnold-Wheeler Scholarship project threaded two Bradley family and consumer sciences students into the University’s identity. With a tartan design competition and arrival of tartan scarves, the work of Annie Drummond ’16 and Carolyn Stewart ’17 added new flair to Bradley’s visual identity.

Drummond, a retail merchandising major from Lake St. Louis, Missouri, developed a plan to design, produce and market an official Bradley tartan as part of her long-term project as an Arnold-Wheeler Scholar. Stewart, a hospitality leadership major from Chesterfield, Missouri, and fellow Arnold-Wheeler Scholar, won Drummond’s design competition during the Spring 2015 semester.

“I wanted to do something that would leave a legacy, but I wouldn’t have believed it if someone told me I would develop a product for Bradley,” Drummond said. “It’s been amazing to see how far I’ve come in three years.”

As Arnold-Wheeler Scholars chosen before their freshman years, Drummond and Stewart committed to finding and developing long-term research that would result in creative projects and research papers for publication. The Department of Family and Consumer Sciences awards two scholarships to incoming freshmen each year.

Drummond’s project took her through the rigors of licensing, branding and approval processes as she prepared for a career in product development.

Though busy with her own research on food neophobia — the fear of trying new foods — Stewart saw Drummond’s design competition as a unique opportunity to try something new.

When the tartan was unveiled in April 2015, Stewart’s red, black, gray and white pattern topped five other designs. It is now registered with the Scottish Register of Tartans in Edinburgh, Scotland.

“I had no idea what it takes to design and produce something like the tartan,” Stewart said. “Bradley has great opportunities for us to do big things, and it’s crazy to think I had the chance to do something that will last.”

For both students, scholarship rigors yielded relationships that will last long after long nights of research end. With eight students in the program at a time, Arnold-Wheeler Scholars are able to form close bonds with each other and their faculty mentors.

“I’ve never worked so hard on something with this level of commitment, but it’s given me a lot of passion for the project,” Stewart said. “I’ve met people I didn’t know before and have learned a lot from faculty I wouldn’t otherwise have met.”