On Saturday February 4, Kent State University’s chapter of Alpha Lambda Delta: The Honor Society For First-Year Academic Success (ALD) honored an unprecedented number of students in their annual induction ceremony. The Academic Honors Society promotes undergraduate success and invites all first-semester students with a 3.5 G.P.A. or higher to join. This year’s induction witnessed a substantial growth in undergraduate achievement with 448 new members, their largest admittance ever.
The ceremony was held at Cartwright Hall and highlighted the first-semester student achievements with officers honoring and officially welcoming new members to the chapter. Insignia pins were given to all inductees and officers were recognized with medallions worn during the ceremony.
Keynote speaker Alison J. Smith, Ph.D., Dean of the Honors College expressed her hope for the growing fraternity commenting that, “by seeing all these students I know we are going to continue to see expanding excellence.” Smith believes this is just the start of academic success for the new ALD members.
Chapter advisor Lauren Huffman, advising coordinator for the Honors College, describes the privilege of being able to see new members grow within ALD throughout their college career stating, “My favorite part is definitely working with the student officers. A lot of times they’ll start as second year students and they’ll continue as officers till they’re seniors so I get to know them really well and see them grow a lot.” The induction ceremony serves as a symbol for the cycle of new members and senior officers continuing the tradition of ALD.
ALD provides a welcoming community of opportunities and helpful individuals looking to promote academic success. Communications co-chair Catie Pusateri explains that ALD provides a “place to belong,” stating, “It helped me feel more connected to the Kent campus.” Pusateri believes ALD will do the same for new members.
Most recently, the Kent State chapter was awarded the Maintaining the Flame Award during the 2021-22 academic year. This honor is awarded to chapters who demonstrate enduring excellence in programming, activities, and service. This award, along with the growing chapter, act as strong indicators of a promising future for ALD.
ALD President Abigail Forbes sees the large induction class as a testament to efforts made within the ALD chapter noting, “It shows our hard work has paid off.” ALD continues to expand and hopes to reach more students in the years to come.
For more information on the Kent State ALD chapter, visit their Instagram @ald_kentstate or their webpage on the Kent State University Honors College website.
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PHOTO CAPTION 1: Alpha Lambda Delta officers of the Kent State chapter stand under a balloon arch with gold colored ALD letter-shaped balloons in front of them.
PHOTO CAPTION 2: Induction of new members taking place on the stage of Cartwright Hall with Alpha Lambda Delta officers standing at the podium.
MEDIA CONTACT: Stephanie Moskal, smoskal@kent.edu, 330-672-2312