Mattie Dodson: 2019 Garrett Ham Scholar at Ouachita

Ouachita Baptist University named Mattie Dodson the 2019 Garrett Ham Scholar. She used the funds to spend two weeks in Italy with the Sisters of San Luca, studying the lives and legacies of female saints.

Update (2026): Since this post was originally published, I have completed my Master of Divinity at Yale Divinity School and entered the Catholic Church. Mattie Dodson’s father, Dr. Joey Dodson, has since left Ouachita to teach at Denver Seminary. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is now Governor of Arkansas. The post below has been updated to reflect these changes and to tighten the original 2019 draft.

Key Takeaways

↓ Jump to FAQ for quick answers

Mattie Dodson is the 2019 Garrett Ham Scholar. The Carl Goodson Honors Program named her at its annual Black and White Reception on February 7, 2019.
Her project focused on female saints in Italy. She used the funds to spend two weeks in Bologna researching the historical Sisters of San Luca, the Dominican community that custodied the city’s Santuario della Madonna di San Luca for centuries before their suppression in 1799.
The scholarship targets serious senior research. The Garrett Ham Scholarship awards up to $1,500 each year to a Christian Studies or Biblical Languages major in Ouachita’s honors program, with preference given to senior thesis projects.
I established the scholarship in 2008. I funded it as a 1L using my summer associate salary and later endowed it as a permanent fixture at Ouachita.
She joins a strong roster of past scholars. Garrett Ham Scholars have gone on to Duke Divinity School, the University of Virginia School of Law, the Mayo Clinic, and elected office.

On February 7, 2019, the Carl Goodson Honors Program and the Alpha Tau Honors Society hosted their annual Black and White Reception. During the dinner, Mattie Dodson was named the 2019 Garrett Ham Scholar.

About Mattie Dodson

Mattie Dodson is a Christian Studies major with an emphasis in Biblical Studies, originally from Arkadelphia, Arkansas. She is the daughter of Dr. Joey Dodson, who taught at Ouachita as Associate Professor of Biblical Studies in the Pruet School of Christian Studies from 2008 to 2019 before joining the faculty of Denver Seminary.

She used the Garrett Ham Scholarship to spend two weeks in Italy researching the historical Sisters of San Luca—the Dominican community of the joined convents of San Mattia and San Luca that for centuries served as custodians of Bologna’s Santuario della Madonna di San Luca before their suppression during the Napoleonic invasion of 1799—and studying the lives and legacies of female saints in the Italian tradition. The Sisters of San Luca were the subject of important early-modern writings by Diodata Malvasia, whose chronicles of the community and its miraculous Madonna remain a touchstone for historians of women in the Italian Church.

The Garrett Ham Scholarship has funded research in Israel, Turkey, England, Washington, D.C., and now an Italian convent on a hilltop above Bologna.

About the Garrett Ham Scholarship

The Garrett Ham Scholarship

Amount: Up to $1,500/year · Eligibility: Christian Studies or Biblical Languages majors in the Carl Goodson Honors Program · Awarded by: Ouachita’s Honors Council with approval of the Dean, Pruet School of Christian Studies · Apply here

2019 marked the eleventh year Ouachita Baptist University awarded the Garrett Ham Scholarship. I established the scholarship in 2008 between my 1L and 2L year of law school, using my summer associate salary, and later endowed it so that it would remain a permanent fixture at Ouachita.

Past scholars have used the funds to purchase academic resources, attend reputable conferences, and travel to places of scriptural and historical significance. Mattie Dodson’s Italian research project fits squarely within that tradition.

Selection Criteria

Ouachita’s Honors Council selects each year’s recipient with final approval from the Dean of the Pruet School of Christian Studies. (Dr. Danny Hays held that role from the scholarship’s inception until his retirement in 2021; Dr. Jeremy Greer succeeded him as Dean.) Giving both bodies a say ensures the recipient’s project remains in keeping with the mission of the Honors Program while staying grounded in Christian Studies.

Qualified applicants must be Christian Studies or Biblical Languages majors. (If no applicants meet that requirement in a given year, Christian Studies minors may be considered.) Preference is given to proposals that support the completion of a senior thesis project.

I established the scholarship in response to my own experience at Ouachita: in 2007, I was the only theology student to complete a senior thesis. I found that exceptionally disappointing at an institution that prides itself on the academic study of Scripture. Mattie Dodson and her fellow Garrett Ham Scholars are helping to break that trend, modeling the value of serious academic work within a faith-formed life.

Why I Funded This Scholarship

Excellent pastoral skills are dependent—not wholly but essentially—upon sound theology and robust scholarship. Much of the thin theological teaching today, including the prosperity gospel, stems from impoverished scriptural understanding. Even on questions that seem more practical than doctrinal, a proper grasp of Scripture is essential. The times in my life when I have grievously failed to live up to the standards of my faith almost always traced back to losing sight of what Scripture and the Church actually teach.

I have also come to appreciate (more deeply since my own reception into the Catholic Church) how the academic study of Scripture without grounding in the daily communal practice of the faith can lead to its own set of errors. My hope is that the projects funded by this scholarship take place within the rhythms of faith—not as a substitute for them. Good theology depends on sound scholarship, and sound scholarship depends on a community that takes faith seriously enough to ask hard questions about it.

Good theology depends on sound scholarship, and sound scholarship depends on a community that takes faith seriously enough to ask hard questions about it.

Writing my own senior thesis on the open theism debate was the most enjoyable project of my college years. I later made it available in revised form on Amazon. Beyond what I learned about the topic itself, the experience taught me how to conduct, synthesize, and analyze research while building toward an argument of my own—skills I have leaned on ever since, in law school, at Yale, and beyond. I hope Mattie Dodson’s research in Italy proves just as rewarding.

How the Scholarship Was Funded

Writing a senior thesis can be expensive, particularly when done well. Proper research may require materials that aren’t readily available in the university library, plus travel to sometimes distant destinations. I established the scholarship to help excellent students cover those costs and produce higher-quality work.

I was honored to receive the Ben Elrod Scholarship when I was a student at Ouachita. It allowed me to spend nearly three weeks traveling through Turkey and Italy retracing the footsteps of Paul. I still treasure those memories deeply.

Garrett Ham in Istanbul beside Constantine's Hippodrome in 2006 — Me in Istanbul next to Constantine’s Hippodrome in 2006. The Ben Elrod Scholarship made the trip possible—and modeled what the Garrett Ham Scholarship aims to give students like Mattie Dodson today.

The Garrett Ham Scholarship currently provides up to $1,500 per year, though the exact amount varies with the endowment’s performance. I would like to grow the annual award as I’m able. In the meantime, I hope it gives recipients like Mattie Dodson the resources they need to accomplish their academic goals.

Past Garrett Ham Scholars

Mattie Dodson succeeds Colton Sims and Cole Jester, who shared the 2018 scholarship. Colton Sims used the funds to travel to Israel as part of a Pruet School biblical studies trip and went on to serve as a chaplain at the Mayo Clinic. Cole Jester used his share to conduct research at the Heritage Foundation. He went on to graduate from the University of Virginia School of Law and was later appointed Secretary of State of Arkansas by Governor Sanders—at 29, the youngest ever to hold the office.

Earlier scholars have followed similarly impressive trajectories. Chris Redmon, the 2013 Garrett Ham Scholar, earned his Master of Divinity at Duke Divinity School and went on to the Ph.D. program at Duke’s Graduate Program in Religion, one of the most selective programs of its kind in the world. Philip Williamson, another past scholar, earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia. Mattie Dodson is in good company.

The Carl Goodson Honors Program

The Carl Goodson Honors Program gives motivated students the chance to deepen their academic experience through more challenging coursework and personalized research projects. I found it one of the most rewarding parts of my Ouachita education and credit it with much of my preparation for law school and, later, Yale Divinity School.

The program has only improved since my time there. Under the leadership of Dr. Barbara Pemberton, students now benefit from honors trips abroad, priority registration, and a dedicated honors lounge—perks that did not exist when I was a student. Mattie Dodson and her peers are fortunate to study under her direction, and I am grateful for the work she has done to advance the program.

Ouachita itself taught me how to explore ideas, develop openness to contrary positions, and consider opposing arguments in their strongest light. While unmistakably evangelical in its outlook, the school did not push a fundamentalist or closed-minded perspective; it allowed real engagement with other viewpoints. That formation served me well during my years as a prosecutor, in the Air Force JAG Corps, and ultimately on the road into the Catholic Church.

I look forward to seeing what Mattie Dodson’s research produces and to watching where her own road leads. If you are a Christian Studies or Biblical Languages major at Ouachita considering the Honors Program, I would encourage you to apply for the scholarship and to take the thesis experience seriously. It may well shape the rest of your life.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Mattie Dodson?

Mattie Dodson is a Christian Studies major with an emphasis in Biblical Studies at Ouachita Baptist University. She is from Arkadelphia, Arkansas, and is the daughter of Dr. Joey Dodson, formerly Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at Ouachita and now on the faculty at Denver Seminary. The Carl Goodson Honors Program named her the 2019 Garrett Ham Scholar.

What did Mattie Dodson do with the Garrett Ham Scholarship?

She used the funds to spend two weeks in Bologna researching the historical Sisters of San Luca—the Dominican community of the joined convents of San Mattia and San Luca that custodied the Santuario della Madonna di San Luca for centuries before their suppression in 1799—and studying the lives and legacies of female saints in the Italian tradition.

What is the Garrett Ham Scholarship?

The Garrett Ham Scholarship is an endowed scholarship at Ouachita Baptist University, awarded annually since 2008 to a Christian Studies or Biblical Languages major in the Carl Goodson Honors Program. It provides up to $1,500 per year, with preference given to projects that support the completion of a senior thesis. I established it in 2008 to encourage serious academic work in theology and Scripture.

Who is eligible for the Garrett Ham Scholarship?

Christian Studies or Biblical Languages majors in Ouachita’s Carl Goodson Honors Program are eligible. If no qualifying applicants apply in a given year, Christian Studies minors may be considered. Preference is given to senior thesis projects, and the recipient is selected by the Honors Council with final approval from the Dean of the Pruet School of Christian Studies.

How do I apply for the Garrett Ham Scholarship?

The official application is available on Ouachita’s honors program website as a downloadable PDF. I encourage every qualifying student to apply. I have always enjoyed hearing about how recipients put the funds to use.

Who were the Sisters of San Luca?

The Sisters of San Luca were a Dominican community in Bologna, Italy, historically tied to the Santuario della Madonna di San Luca on the Colle della Guardia above the city. The nuns of the joined convents of San Mattia and San Luca custodied the famed icon of the Madonna di San Luca—a twelfth-century Byzantine panel traditionally attributed to Luke the Evangelist—for roughly five centuries until their suppression during the Napoleonic invasion in 1799. Diodata Malvasia’s sixteenth- and seventeenth-century writings on the community and its miraculous Madonna remain an important primary source for the history of women’s religious life in early-modern Italy.