News Detail
Thirty-four non-traditional/adult students at SUNY Cortland have been elected to membership in Alpha Sigma Lambda, an international honor society honoring the academic achievement of undergraduate students over the age of 24. The induction ceremony and dinner was held April 12 in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge.
The SUNY Cortland chapter, Lambda Omicron, has elected members to the honor society for 18 years. Alpha Sigma Lambda national standards indicate that students elected to membership are in the top 20 percent of all students at SUNY Cortland age 24 or older who have completed 24 credits of work at SUNY Cortland with a grade point average of 3.2 or better. For the inductees to be in the top 20 percent of students at SUNY Cortland this year, they needed to have a grade point average of 3.58 or higher. The GPA range for this group of students inducted was 3.58 to 4.12.
Students elected to membership are:
Joseph Barbaro, Shelby Bergen, Jason Blayda, Karen Bobbett, Courtney Connors, Michelle DeVries, Gregory DuVall, Chrysta Elliot, Allen Emm, Timothy Ferro, Hsiao-Ting Fu, Heather Garr, Nolan Graham, Michael Guinto, Bridget Hall, Emily Jones, Anna Klatt, Jocelyn Lake, Shuk Man Liu, Jared McComb, Kelly McKenna, Christen O’Hora, Lora Ottaviano, Owen Parseghian, Beth Poulos, Sara Sampson, Amanda Sharpsteen, Chelsea Spier, Michael Staversky, Allison Teachout, Andrew Victoria, Jacqueline Wagner and Marc Wiesenfeld.
Regina Grantham, Communication Disorders and Studies Department, and Leslie Eaton, Psychology Department, were inducted as honorary members.
SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum offered welcoming remarks to the new members. Regina Grantham, Communication Disorders and Sciences Department chair and associate professor was the faculty guest speaker. She offered her words of wisdom and respect for our adult students as well as her own personal experiences as a student and as a person who is passionate about her career in speech-hearing-language field.
Corrine Edick, a senior biology major and member of Alpha Sigma Lambda, explained the ideals of the honor society. Elizah Feathers, a senior exercise science major and vice president and Student Government Association representative of the Non-Traditional Student Organization, assisted in the administration the pledge of membership to the inductees.
“The Alpha Sigma Lambda Induction Ceremony is one of my favorite events each year,” said Cheryl Smith Hines ’05, coordinator of Student Outreach and Non-Traditional Student Support and the national councilor for the Alpha Sigma Lambda Omicron chapter. “As the vice president of Alpha Sigma Lambda Board of Directors, I believe in the mission of Alpha Sigma Lambda. It is my privilege to be able to induct our new members into this honor society and celebrate their hard work and outstanding academic achievement. During the ceremony, we learned more about the students’ backgrounds and experiences that brought them to SUNY Cortland. Their GPAs, as well as their experiences, are impressive. These students may be balancing long commutes, full-time employment as well has family responsibilities. For some adult students, it can be hard to attend a typically traditional-aged college. I often hear it can be overwhelming and intimidating. We are truly fortunate to have great role models on our campus.”
Vice President of Finance and Management David Duryea, a retired rear admiral in the U.S. Navy, presented a military medallion to Jason Blayda, a December 2016 sport management graduate, as a thank you for his military service and sacrifice with the U.S. Navy.
More information is posted on the Alpha Sigma Lambda website.