Fifty inducted to elite national honor society

Fifty students walked across the stage of the Mabel Brown Room last Friday night to receive a pin, which when placed on their right side, made them a member of the Keene State College chapter of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.

"You worked very hard to get here, and you should be proud of yourselves," said NSCS Ambassador Lauren Fox to the inductees. "Congratulations for taking an exciting new step in your college lives."

KSC Chapter President Janet Wisler was not able to attend the 7 p.m. induction convocation, but in prepared remarks read by Lauren Dance, vice president of the chapter, she congratulated the new inductees and thanked their parents and friends.

"Friends and family members, I thank you for supporting our inductees," she said.

Chapter Treasurer Molly Croteau said the three pillars of the national organization are scholarship, leadership and service.

"Only by participating will you get the full experience of being a society member," she said.

She said she hoped the induction ceremony would lead new members to learn and get involved more.

As a new member, junior Jen Manosh hopes to "gain experience and guidance from other members, and gain some leadership skills."

Croteau encouraged new members to attend the first meeting of the chapter on Oct.3 where they will be making harvest centerpieces for the Harborside Nursing Home.

The organization plans to participate in the Discover U Program on campus, donate "non-perishable items to a food pantry," volunteer at a soup kitchen, and purchase "gifts for families and children in need around the holiday time," said Wisler, in an e-mail.

"This is not your cookie-cutter honor society," said Fox. "With NSCS you will have choices, a voice, and you will have fun."

After the ceremony, Dance said the organization was community service based, and believed in "being true and inspiring people."

NSCS was founded in 1994 at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The KSC chapter currently has 458 active members, and 142 members were inducted into the organization this year," said Wisler.

First and second-year students, in the top 20 percent of their class, and having a minimum grade point average of 3.4 are invited to join NSCS.

Junior Jackie Oster said she joined "to take advantage of such opportunities" through scholarships and the study abroad program.

"It seemed like a good organization, so I joined up," said junior Justin Barnard.

Joining Dance, Croteau, Fox, KSC Chapter Secretary Jenna Rancourt, and Patricia Maher, public relations officer for the chapter, on the stage were President Helen Giles-Gee and Provost Mel Netzhammer. Both college officials were named distinguished members of the KSC chapter of NSCS, and Netzhammer was the keynote speaker. Maher said Giles-Gee received the honor because "[she] has made a great difference in the campus community. She is energetic in making positive change."

Netzhammer was named a distinguished member due to his role in the development of the Integrative Studies and 4-credit program, and is a "great leader," she said.

In congratulating the inductees, Giles-Gee quoted Benjamin Disraeli, a former prime minister of England, who said, "The secret of success is constancy of purpose."

"By achieving high standards … you have achieved a constancy of purpose," she said.

Netzhammer began his address by stating that 30 years ago this month he started at Loyola University in New Orleans, and then received his first college grade, an F plus.

"And for some reason, the plus made it more humiliating," he said.

He said the professor said the plus was "because there is hope," and that was a defining moment in his college career.

"I am grateful everyday that my college experiences prepared me for a lifetime of learning," he said, using a recent episode of the Colbert Report about college credit as an example.

In today's world higher education was often reduced to career preparation, he said.

"It is so much more than that," he said.

Senior Christina Reed was also honored at the ceremony as an outstanding member of the KSC chapter.

"Despite her busy schedule, she always found time for meetings," said Rancourt.

She also said Reed raised the most money for their March of Dimes team last spring.