Sophomore volleyball player Claudia Hess has earned Butler's highest academic honor after being awarded the 2019 Hubbard Award of Excellence.

The $15,000 Hubbard Award of Excellence is awarded by the Butler Community College Foundation. Hess, from Abilene, Kan., was one of five finalists for the award.

Established by Kansas native and Butler alumnus R.D. Hubbard and his wife Joan Dale in 1985, the Hubbard Award recipient must show outstanding performance inside the classroom and in the community. Hess studied pre-engineering at Butler and will transfer to Kansas State University to major in engineering. Prior to the upcoming fall semester, Hess is participating in an internship at Florida Atlantic University sponsored by the National Science Foundation. At Butler, Hess was on the volleyball team, worked as a college tutor and a lab assistant. She was named Resident of the Year in April. Her name will be placed on the "Hubbard Tree of Knowledge."

Hess is the first Butler athlete to earn the Hubbard award since Bryon Bigham in 1988.

Hess also earned the Helen Teter Zebold Science Award. Helen Teter (1912-1984) was a pioneer of Butler County and an early rancher of the state. She was one of El Dorado's leading philanthropists. Few people knew about her works, and that was the way she wanted it. She was a leader in the community, assisting church organizations, young people and those in need. Helen attended Kansas State University where she met Robert Zebold, an agriculture major. They married in 1933 and spent the next twelve years on a cotton plantation in southeastern Arkansas. After World War II, they returned to Butler County to raise livestock and to look after the land she had inherited. Helen loved the Flint Hills and stayed there until her death in 1983. The Helen Teter Zebold Science Award was established in her memory. Each year it is awarded to a graduating sophomore majoring in science, math or engineering. The student must be firmly committed to continued study in that major, and plan to work toward earning a bachelor's degree.

Hess was a team captain as a sophomore and was also nominated to the fall homecoming court.

Alli Klausmeyer from Clearwater also earned honors as an Order of the Gold recipient. She was among 31 students who finished their Butler careers with a 4.0 grade point average. Klausmeyer is transferring to Newman University, where she will major in diagnostic medical sonography.

Hess, Klausmeyer and Erin Goodrum, a sophomore from Andover, earned Order of the Purple honors, which are given to graduating students who have maintained a 3.75 or higher GPA. Like Hess, Goodrum will transfer to Kansas State University, where she will major in  accounting and business analytics.

The were three of five players to graduate during the college-wide ceremony on Friday, May 11 at BG Products Veterans Sports Complex.

Beth Schulte and Sydney Mossman will both continue their volleyball careers at Newman, having signed letters of intents with the Jets.

All five graduating sophomores were also members of Phil Theta Kappa (PTK). It is a National Honors Society serving American institutions that offer Associates degree programs. Its purpose is to recognize and encourage scholarship among Associate degree students. PTK provides opportunity for the development of leadership and service, for an intellectual climate to exchange ideas and ideals, for lively fellowship for scholars, and for stimulation of interest in continuing academic excellence. PTK members are inducted during a special ceremony held each fall and spring semester