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PTK Members Elect STLCC Student as International Leader

Tuesday, April 29, 2025

Lulu McGowanSt. Louis Community College never entered Lulu McGowan’s thoughts when deciding what to do after high school. She had her heart set on a four-year institution because that’s all she ever heard about.  
 
Then she received the bill from her school of choice and had to pivot. She couldn’t be happier.  
 
The College provided what she wanted from her first choice. She took most of her classes on the Forest Park campus in the urban setting she desired, and she got an education that kept her engaged and encouraged her to keep learning.  
 
She also achieved more than she could have imagined. In April, McGowan’s peers from across the world elected her as the Phi Theta Kappa international (PTK) president for 2025-26. PTK is the national honor society for associate degree-granting colleges.   
 
“They called my name, and it was crazy,” said McGowan, who was sitting in the back of the convention hall with the rest of the Heartland Region. “I'm wearing my prom dress, which was so much fun, and I had these heels on and had to trudge all the way up to the stage from the very back of the room. So, I made it to the stage, and it was a great moment.” 
 
McGowan, who graduates in May with an associate in arts in general transfer studies, went through a rigorous selection process to earn votes at the honor society’s annual convention April 3-5. She was one of seven people running for the position, with the field shrinking as it went through three rounds of speeches, interviews and campaigning. 
 
Her priority as president is to make Phi Theta Kappa better known on campuses. In her third semester, McGowan happened to take a class with Sandra Arumugam-Osburn, EdD. The communications professor happens to be the advisor for the Forest Park PTK chapter and mentioned it to McGowan.  
 
“Lulu worked through each stage of her participation in PTK with interest and enthusiasm, embodying the four PTK hallmarks of scholarship, leadership, service and fellowship,” Arumugam-Osburn said. “Her willingness to ‘Go Full Out!,’ her presidential campaign tagline, is why she has been able to experience and be rewarded with many of the opportunities PTK has for its members.  
 
“I hope this will encourage many other students to explore the opportunities STLCC provides both inside and outside of the classroom.”  
 
McGowan said she might not have heard of PTK if not for Arumugam-Osburn. She wasn’t immediately convinced, but when she started seeing social media posts about the organization, she decided to give it a try. 
 
Phi Theta Kappa has around 230,000 students at two-year institutions throughout the United States, including several of its territories, and in Europe. All four campuses at STLCC have chapters. 
  
It recognizes the academic achievement of students and provides opportunities for them to grow as scholars and leaders. It provides support for the continued success of the nation’s top community college students, while also working to support and strengthen the nation’s community colleges. 
 
“This is a tremendous honor for both Lulu McGowan and STLCC,” said Jeff Pittman, PhD, chancellor of St. Louis Community College. “It demonstrates the exceptional students we attract who pursue leadership roles that will serve them well in their future careers.”    
 
In addition to McGowan’s role, Katelyn Busse, president of the PTK Meramec chapter, was elected as vice president of scholarship for the Heartland Region of PTK. 
 
While McGowan has personal priorities, she wants to also support her team of leaders. She values their visions and wants each person to have a voice in the direction of the organization.  
 
She got a taste of leadership when she became the Heartland Region president just a few months after joining her chapter. McGowan found herself surrounded by other passionate students with valuable insight and worthy goals.  
 
She knows her year as president will be much of the same.  
  
“During my term, it’s important to me to understand the people I’m working with and make whatever dreams they have for the organization come true,” McGowan said. “Because the five of us (international officers) are all strong leaders. We’re all passionate about higher ed and community service. I want each officer to feel heard, and for their missions to be supported.” 
  
McGowan, who attended classes at both the Forest Park and Meramec campuses, plans to register for two courses for both the fall and spring semesters of 2025-26 to remain eligible to hold the position. She will also matriculate to Webster University, where she plans to pursue an international relations degree. Her future goals include advocating for women’s global menstrual equity.  
 
When she graduated from her private high school in 2023, her life was supposed to take a different trajectory. The school focused its students on attending elite colleges and universities, mostly private, and mostly expensive. It was ingrained in McGowan that attending one of these institutions was the natural next educational step. She applied and got accepted to a university that met her wants. 
 
It didn’t meet the desire for affordability, unfortunately, and McGowan felt lost. Her mom, Elizabeth McGowan, and dad, Travis McGowan, never flinched. They believed in their daughter and knew there were other avenues that she might not have considered.  
 
McGowan giving a speech on stageElizabeth McGowan suggested STLCC. It wasn’t what McGowan envisioned for her life, but she felt stuck. She entered skeptically.  
 
Then she took an international studies class with Ssebunya Edward Kasule, PhD, and she immediately made connections with other students. She also took an art class with the late Mario Carlos in her first semester and that fueled her love of art. She instantly knew she wanted to focus on those subjects as she pursued a degree. She also knew the College felt perfect.  
 
“Fairly quickly I fell in love with it,” McGowan said. “Literally in the first class.” 

In her third semester, she took a communications class with Arumugam-Osburn. And before McGowan knew it, she was happily enmeshed at the school, involved with PTK and thrilled with her life detour. 
 
She came to her first PTK meeting tentatively but quickly became an active member within the Xi Epsilon chapter. Six months later, she campaigned and was elected president of the Heartland Region. Locally, she also served as the vice president of service. A year later, wanting to continue learning about her leadership skills and what more she could achieve, McGowan decided to run for international president.  
 
“PTK showed me things about myself that I didn't really know were there before, especially in the sense of my leadership qualities and how much I valued connection on campus,” she said. “And honestly, just in terms of educational value, because I came in with the mindset of community college is my only option and won’t serve me like a college or university.  
 
“So, when PTK showed me that I have strong natural abilities in leadership, strong natural abilities in public speaking and in networking, I was like, why didn't I know about any of this stuff before?” 

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