Meet Kelly Weber Felch: The more she learns, the more she wants to learn!

Kelly Weber Felch already had a lot of interests when she left her home state of Oregon to pursue her undergraduate degree at Arizona State University in 2008.  
 
After completing a bachelor’s degree in developmental biology, cellular biology and genetics, she worked for a few years and even explored a degree program in naturopathic medicine for a year before returning to ASU — this time to explore her interests in the humanities. She completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy and religious studies with a certificate in Jewish studies in 2019 before moving directly into CISA’s Master of Liberal Studies degree, where she could meld all of her interests.
 
“I love CISA, and the Master of Liberal Studies (MLSt) program has been my best educational experience by far,” Weber Felch said.
 
As part of the MLSt, which she finished in 2021, Weber Felch combined her scientific knowledge of the spine with exploration of the significance of the sacrum across different cultures and religious traditions. The sacrum is the wide triangular section at the base of the spine, just above the tailbone, including five segments which fuse together during the early years of life. She even enrolled in a graduate-level ceramics course to express her scholarship in an applied way in that medium.
 
Currently, Weber Felch is completing an online Master of Divinity program from the Pacific School of Religion and is enjoying a chaplaincy internship with the VA Phoenix Health Care System, helping serve patients and their families looking for spiritual and emotional support.

Serving the military-affiliated community is important to her, for a number of reasons.

After returning to ASU in 2018 to complete her second undergraduate degree, Weber Felch was part of the Sun Devil Battalion with the Army ROTC, where where she made many friends and learned invaluable leadership skills.

“I trained under Colonel Sink and Dallas Eubanks and graduated from Basic Camp at Fort Knox in Kentucky in August 2019. Due to scholarship scarcity, I forfeited my ROTC scholarship to ensure funding for students who were attempting to complete their first degree with ASU, as I was working on completing my third,” she explained. “I put my future with the Army on hold, and focused on surviving the pandemic and completing my master’s. 

“I am still thinking of returning to military chaplaincy upon the completion of my MDiv,” Weber Felch added.  

Kelly and her husband Ryan Felch (pictured above) — a veteran of the Army National Guard and also a proud Sun Devil who will soon complete a communication degree at ASU — attended CISA’s ASU v. UArizona basketball watch party for alumni, faculty and staff on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, as well as last fall’s CISA alumni watch party for the ASU v. UCLA football game. 
 
They enjoy following Sun Devil athletics in general.
 
“In my 15 years of being a Sun Devil, I’ve been to at least one ASU sports event at every PAC-12 campus — except Washington State University in Pullman,” noted Kelly, who said she has really enjoyed the PAC-12 friends and camaraderie made over the years.