Last Updated on March 9, 2017 by cassnetwork
KOKOMO, Ind. — The Ivy Tech Community College Kokomo Region Phi Theta Kappa chapters, Alpha Phi Pi (APP, Kokomo Campus) and Beta Gamma Zeta (BGZ, Logansport Campus), and their members earned several awards and honors at the honor society’s annual Indiana Region Convention held March 3 to 4 in Lafayette.
Chapter Awards
Alpha Phi Pi received five awards: Five-Star Level Chapter Award, Distinguished Chapter Award, Most Outstanding Honors in Action Award, Continued Excellence Award, and Distinguished College Project Award.
Beta Gamma Zeta was honored with five chapter awards: Five-Star Level Chapter Award, Most Distinguished Chapter Award, Continued Excellence Award, Most Distinguished College Project, and Most Distinguished Honors in Action project. BGZ also received the Most Distinguished Chapter Officer Team Award.
Member Awards
Member awards went to Cassandra Proffitt of Logansport (BGZ), Most Distinguished Chapter Member Award; Elizabeth Humphrey of Logansport (BGZ), Outstanding Chapter Officer Award; Jessica Boucher of Logansport (BGZ), Most Outstanding Chapter Officer Award; and Moriah Mercer of Peru (APP), Distinguished Chapter Officer Award. Mercer also received the Indiana Flag Bearer Award.
At the conference, Carrie Sherer of Logansport and Elizabeth Humphrey of Logansport (BGZ) were elected regional president and regional secretary/treasurer, respectively, for the next year.
Moriah Mercer serves as president of the Alpha Phi Pi chapter based in Kokomo, and through her leadership members were active in a variety of Phi Theta Kappa events over the past year, including hosting the Statewide Regional Fall Honors conference on the Kokomo Campus. The chapter’s community service projects included volunteering at the Kokomo Rescue Mission both for the Christmas toy give-away and at the clothing warehouse; serving at the Doing the Dream Martin Luther King Jr. celebration; and spending time with the residents of Wellbrooke of Kokomo making Valentine’s cards and helping the staff with decorations and staffing for their Valentine’s Sweetheart Ball. In addition, the students had a canned food drive for St. Patrick Catholic Church in Kokomo and assisted Student Life with a well-received campus Organization Fair. Through research completed for their Honors in Action project, chapter members were able to write a policy change proposal to improve the process of verifying accommodation needs for disabled military veterans desiring to attend Ivy Tech that they presented to Ivy Tech’s statewide Disability Support Services committee for consideration.
Under president Carrie Sherer, members of the Beta Gamma Zeta Chapter based in Logansport supported or carried out a wide range of activities on the campus and in the community. Community activities included presenting Super Science Day for the entire second-grade class at Thompson Elementary School, hosting at Ivy Tech Cass County Relay for Life, and hosting five American Red Cross blood drives. Additionally, they supported Mascot Night at Logansport High School, supported the Walk Into My Future Event at the Logansport campus, and participated in the Logansport Scholarship Fundraiser and Doing the Dream events. Through the chapter’s Honors in Action project, fifth-graders at all four Logansport elementary schools learned about domestication and genetic modification of agricultural crops and learned how to extract DNA from fruit.
“These chapters continue to maintain a high standard of excellence in their college and community service,” said Chancellor David Bathe of the Kokomo and Lafayette Region. “The members of both chapters, and their advisors, are exemplary ambassadors for our college to the community. Phi Theta Kappa continues to offer so much to our students, whether through its programming, leadership development and scholarship opportunities. It remains an integral part of Ivy Tech student life.”
Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society has been recognizing and encouraging excellence among community colleges since it was founded in 1918. Today, Phi Theta Kappa is the largest honor society in higher education with more than three million members and 1,275 chapters located in 50 states, U.S. territories, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Germany, United Arab Emirates, and the Republic of Palau. The recognition and scholarship opportunities that Phi Theta Kappa brings to an institution, its faculty advisors, and most importantly to its student members are unparalleled by any other student organization.
SOURCE: News release from Ivy Tech Community College Kokomo Region