More than two dozen Elon University students and one staff member were recognized for their leadership at an awards program sponsored by Omicron Delta Kappa.
Elon University celebrated the achievements of top students leaders on Thursday, April 27, in Whitley Auditorium during an annual leadership awards program sponsored by Omicron Delta Kappa, a national leadership honor society.
Since 1977, ODK has recognized Elon students who exhibit high academic standards and outstanding leadership. Other core components include multicultural experience, athletics, campus and community service, social and religious activities, campus government, creative and performing arts and journalism, speech and mass media.
Exemplary achievement and service are also being recognized this spring during several individual school ceremonies.
2017 ODK award winners included the following:
Student Communications Media Award – Thomas E. Hamzik
This award is presented to the student who has contributed the most to advance communications on campus during the current academic year.
Thomas Barnett “Breaking Down Barriers” Scholarship Award – Molly Elizabeth Bauer
Thomas Barnett was an Honors Fellow and a Presidential Scholar in the Elon University Class of 2007. In his honor thesis, Thomas used digital art to raise awareness about issues on campus for students with disabilities. His parents, William and Paige Barnett, created this scholarship in Thomas’ memory to be awarded to an Elon undergraduate who successfully completes a high-quality project on a topic related to improving the university experience of students with disabilities.
Leadership Studies Award – Sara Rebecca Elgart
The Leadership Studies Award is awarded annually to the senior Leadership Studies minor who has best exemplified the study of leadership as an academic discipline through excellence in related coursework, research and/or other scholarly contributions.
Hilaire Pickett ’08 Leadership Grant – Gabrielle Alyse Vance
The Hilaire Pickett ’08 Leadership Grant is awarded to two junior or senior students in the Isabella Cannon Leadership Program to support the pursuit of leadership internships or legacy efforts.
The PERCS Outstanding Ethnography Award – Leena Dahal
This award recognizes the student who has conducted the most outstanding ethnographic research project at Elon University, judged according to the quality of both the process and product. The award is given by PERCS: The Program for Ethnographic Research and Community Studies.
The PERCS Certificate – Ben Bridges, Leena Dahal
The PERCS Certificate recognizes students who have fulfilled the requirements of the PERCS certificate program and have mastered the skills necessary to conduct rigorous, ethical ethnographic fieldwork that culminates in a high- quality ethnographic project. The certificate is given by PERCS: The Program for Ethnographic Research and Community Studies.
Helen B. Rippy Art History Award – Lindsay Nicole Maldari, Alyssa Rose Caffrey
The Rippy scholarship was established by Dr. William B. Rippy ’43 in honor of his wife, Helen Blalock Rippy ’45. This award is given to an art history major with an above-average GPA in art history courses at Elon.
Edwina Graff Hughes Johnston Award in Art History – Emily Elaine Clark, Claire Archer Swanson
Edwina Graff Johnston, a West Virginia native and William and Mary graduate, moved to Elon when she married Dr. James William Johnston ’43; their son Richard graduated from Elon in 1975. A talented pianist, Mrs. Johnston was also an artist, and her husband established a scholarship at Elon in her honor; the Department of Art and Art History presents a portion of this award to a rising senior art history major who has shown excellence in academic work and active participation in the art history program.
Martha Smith Award for Women’s and Gender Studies – Nosipho Shangase
This award is given in honor of Martha Smith, one of the founding mothers of the women’s, gender and sexualities studies program at Elon University, to recognize the achievements – both academic and activist in nature – of a graduating senior women’s and gender studies minor.
Katherine DuPont Weymouth Scholarship – Tara Nicole Deangelis
This scholarship is awarded to outstanding juniors in the social sciences and given in honor of alumnus Frank Lyon ’71.
W.L. Monroe Christian Education and Personality Award – Miranda Nichole Baker, Elisson Adrien
Recipients of this award demonstrate citizenship and a strong desire to help others improve themselves. A trust created by the late W.L. Monroe Sr., who attended Elon in 1917, provides cash awards to the recipients.
Truitt Center Reconciliation Award – Olivia Grace Elizabeth Arges, Emily Grace DeMaioNewton
This award is presented to a student who best exemplifies the vision of Douglas G. Noiles and Edna Truitt Noiles ’44, who endowed the program in the Vera Richardson Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life “to enable Elon students to learn about their own and other faiths and to live lives of reconciliation.”
Ella Brunk Smith Award – Iliana Berger Brodsky
In honor of Ella Brunk Smith, wife of former Elon President Dr. L.E. Smith, a cash award is presented to a female student in the senior class who has made significant contributions to the religious and moral life on campus.
Iris Holt McEwen Community Service Award – Sarah Marie Holdren
This award is presented to a student whose service to Elon and the larger community exemplifies the generosity of spirit and dedication to philanthropy of Iris Holt McEwen.
Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award – Steven Michael Armendariz, Laurel June Shuler, Michelle Campos-Gregoris
This award, given by the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Foundation, recognizes two students and one faculty or staff member who demonstrate fine spiritual qualities in their daily lives and relationships with peers.
Ward Family Learning in Action Award – Maria A. Santana-Garces
Established in 2007 by the Ward family, this award is presented annually to a rising sophomore, junior or senior in good academic and social standing who plans to undertake an experiential learning project. The project may include, but is not limited to, international study, undergraduate research, internships, service and leadership experiences. The Ward family includes Dorothy Mears Ward GP ’05 ’08 ’14, Tom and Beth Ward P ’05 ’08 ’14, A.T. Ward ’05, Christopher Ward ’08 and Chase Ward ’14.
Newman Civic Fellows Award – Amy Elizabeth Belfer
The Campus Compact Newman Civic Fellows Award is a national award that recognizes students who inspire and engage others through their work to provide long-term solutions for social issues in their communities. This award is made in honor of Dr. Frank Newman, one of Campus Compact’s founders, who was a tireless advocate for the role of higher education in preparing students for active and engaged citizenship.
John W. Barney Memorial Award – Emily Colette Roper
This award recognizes the senior(s) with the highest cumulative GPA. Colleagues, former students, and friends of the late John W. Barney established this award in his honor. Mr. Barney graduated from Elon in 1910 and was a member of the faculty for more than three decades.
William Moseley Brown Leadership Award – Sara Rebecca Elgart
Presented by Elon’s Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa, this award is given to the student who consistently demonstrates the highest ideals of ODK, including providing distinguished leadership to his or her peers. The award is named in honor of a former Elon faculty member who was one of the original founders of the national chapter of ODK.