Twenty-seven CHC students were inducted into the Alpha Lambda Delta and Delta Epsilon Sigma honor societies last week in a ceremony in the East Parlor of St. Joseph Hall.
Alpha Lambda Delta is a national honor society that recognizes first-year students for academic excellence; those who have maintained a 3.5 GPA average or are in the top 20 percentile of their class. Those meeting this criteria are invited to join.
During the ceremony, which was led by faculty advisor Patrick McCauley, Ph.D., assistant professor of religious studies, and student ambassadors Jillian Walsh, Nicholas Kowalski, Shelby Emery and Leanna Ashcom, students were rewarded with their certificates and ALD pins after reciting the society’s mantra and responding with a resounding “we do,” after being asked a series of questions about how they planned to continue to live the mission of the prestigious group.
Karen Wendling, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry, a Chestnut Hill College alum and ALD inductee, gave the keynote address, relating her experiences and fears from her own time as a first-year student.
“Many years after that initial meeting, I think I understand why induction into ALD is so important,” she said. “This symbolizes a successful adjustment into the whole new world of college life.”
The students grasped the weight of the ceremony and what it symbolized.
“It’s nice to be recognized for my hard work, and it gives me something to look forward to, to be a better hard-working student,” said Victoria Vigneux, one of the inductees.
Perhaps the most excited of everyone was McCauley.
“When you are the advisor for societies like ALD and DES, you get to work with students who are invited into excellence, into an above and beyond,” he said. “That’s really what I like to do here at Chestnut Hill College, I like to be part of the process in which students independently come to realize that their potential and their capacity is maybe a little higher than they thought.”
—Frances Ellison ’15