Campus News: The Week of April 30

Apr. 30---- The Center for Community Engagement at Eastern Connecticut State University showcased the work of dedicated student volunteers on April 18 at its annual Service Expo and Awards. This was the first in-person expo in three years and featured remarks by the CCE's retiring director, Kim Silcox. The expo highlighted partnerships with more than 15 community organizations in the Windham area, were student volunteers led recurrent programs throughout the past year. Among the students recognized was Martha Castillo-Mercado of Kennesaw, a junior majoring in Health Sciences. Castillo-Mercado served as a student leader and was the recepient of the Broadening Horizons Award.

— Lindsey Dahlquist of Kennesaw recently participated in the University of Findlay's 2022 Symposium for Scholarship and Creativity. Dahlquist presented "Trends in Vitamin and Supplement Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic." Undergraduate and graduate students were given the opportunity to share their research, creativity, and professional learning experiences with the University and community, with many students receiving honors at the same time. The symposium may be viewed at https://www.findlay.edu/offices/academic/ssc2022.

— Academic and student life programs at Huntingdon College presented awards for scholarship and service during the annual Awards Convocation held April 22. Among the winners was Taylor Chestnutt of Marietta, who received the Irene Brinson Munro Award. The award given annually to a graduating senior majoring in history or government who has, at the beginning of the student's final semester, the highest average in all attempted courses in all departments, and who will have, at graduation, at least 18 hours in world history and/or government and an academic grade point average of at least 3.00 in history courses.

— The following students were recently initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. Thomas McCormack Jr. of Acworth was initiated at Columbus State University. Fortune Onwuzuruike of Marietta was initiated at Marymount University.

— Claudia Matteo of Marietta, a student of the Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing and Health Professions at Georgia State University, was named to the Lambda Beta Society, the national honor society for respiratory care. The organization was formed in 1986 to promote, recognize and honor scholarship, scholarly achievement, service, and character of students, graduates, and faculty members of the profession.

— Lily Langley of Powder Springs, graduating with a B.S. in Dietetics and Nutrition, was among the more than 140 University of Mississippi students who were welcomed into the Phi Kappa Phi honor society, one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious honor societies for all academic disciplines. The university held an induction ceremony on April 7 at the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts on campus.

— The 4th Annual Piedmont Symposium showcased the undergraduate research and creative inquiry projects of 389 students on April 6. Their findings were presented across the Demorest and Athens campuses through oral and poster presentations. Local student presenters included: Sarah Brooks and Jordan Hicks, both of Kennesaw; and Logan Cranford, Eric Penlan, Odalys Rendon, Owen Helgesen, Leah Higginbotham, Chad Hall and Duke Wodetzki, all of Marietta.

— Maxfield Gardinier of Marietta and Caroline Morris of the Cumberland area were named to the fall 2021 Dean's Award for Academic Excellence at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York.

— Georgia Southwestern State University student Olivia Moore of Kennesaw received the Excel Award for the Office of Recreation and Wellness at GSW's 2022 Student Recognition Ceremony on April 21 in the Storm Dome. This award recognizes a student leader who goes above and beyond when given a task.

— Brian Kent of Marietta is a 2022 recipient of the prestigious Randall Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award from The University of Alabama. Kent, a Chemistry/Physics major, received the award for a research project titled "Bridging the Neural Correlates Between Episodic Memory and Spatial Navigation using Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy in healthy and pathological aging." Award recipients are nominated and selected by University faculty and staff research directors. The Randall Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award Program was created in 1997 by the Randall Publishing Co. and the H. Pettus Randall III family in memory of Henry Pettus Randall Jr., a distinguished UA alumnus and creator of Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges.

The Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing and Health Professions at Georgia State University inducted the following students into the Alpha Eta National Honor Society: Amanda Glass of Acworth; and Bethel Alemu, Quynh Huynh and Jacqueline Shemaria, all of Marietta.

— Bethel Alemu of Marietta, a Georgia State University student, was named a recipient of the Outstanding Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies in Health Informatics Program Award. This award is given to students who have demonstrated academic achievement, have strong leadership skills, and strong potential as future health IT professionals.

— Lauren Newhouse of Kennesaw received the Nursing Student Research Award in recognition of outstanding research contributions. The award was presented during the Byrdine F. Lewis School of Nursing and Health Professions Honors Day on March 30. Newhouse is a role model for other students and shows the potential to become a significant contributor to the nursing profession.

— Amanda Glass of Acworth has received the Occupational Therapy Professional Excellence Award from Georgia State University's Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing and Health Professions. This award is given to the student who has most actively participated in professional activities within the community, demonstrating high standards of professionalism, while maintaining a 3.5 GPA or higher.