The University of Connecticut has won the prestigious Order of the Torch Award from the Alpha Lambda Delta National Honor Society for First Year Students for the 2010-2011 academic year. It is the first time the University has won the award.
UConn was among seven chapters recognized by the society’s National Council from among the 270 chapters nationwide. Torch Award recipients are selected on the basis of outstanding chapter work in programming, internal communications, campus visibility, and overall presentation of their application.
The UConn chapter was led by Elyse Botelho, who served as its president last year. The chapter is advised by Corrine Hawes, graduate advisor for Alpha Lambda Delta, and David Ouimette, executive director of First Year Programs & Learning Communities.
The UConn chapter initiates about 700 students each year in the spring semester. In order to be initiated, students must have earned a 3.5 GPA in their first semester.
Alpha Lambda Delta emphasizes that educated persons have a responsibility to “have tolerance in [their] dealings with all persons, generosity in giving to those in need, and insight into the feelings of others,” says Glenda Earwood, executive director of the society. Members are challenged to make a “meaningful contribution to society.”
The UConn chapter at University of Connecticut participated in and organized many service events throughout the 2010-2011 academic year, including the annual Pumpkinfest, Spring Carnival, and nursing home visits. Also in the past year, the University had three national scholarship winners: in 2010, William David Lindsay Jr. and Juliana MacSwan won the Trow Scholarship, and Caroline Yu received the Christine Conaway Graduate Fellowship award.
As a local chapter, Alpha Lambda Delta also recognizes the efforts and achievements of its members by awarding scholarships to those who are planning to study abroad and to members who have shown extraordinary commitment to and involvement in Alpha Lambda Delta. The students also selected Eric Lundquist in the Psychology Department as Faculty Member of the Year 2011 in recognition of his dedication both in and outside the classroom.
Founded in 1924, Alpha Lambda Delta is a national honor society that recognizes and encourages academic excellence among first-year students. Today, the society has 270 active chapters throughout the United States, and more than 900,000 students have been initiated into membership since the first chapter was started.
