Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society Inducts New Members at St. Louis Community College

Thirty-one students from St. Louis Community College at Wildwood were inducted into the Beta Rho Epsilon Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for two-year colleges. This brings the total number of members from the Wildwood campus to 161 since the chapter was established in March 2009.

The purpose of Phi Theta Kappa is to recognize and encourage scholarship among two-year college students. To achieve this purpose, Phi Theta Kappa provides members with opportunities for the development of leadership and service, an intellectual climate for exchange of ideas and ideals, lively fellowship, and stimulation of interest in continuing academic excellence.

To be eligible for membership, a student must be enrolled in an accredited institution offering an associate degree program, must have completed at least 12 hours of coursework that may be applied to an associate degree, and have a minimum grade point average of 3.5. The honor society has more than 2 million members and 1,200 chapters worldwide.

Beta Rho Epsilon, the chapter of STLCC-Wildwood, is an active and vibrant chapter. Members fulfilled requirements to become a 5-Star chapter last spring, the highest rating a chapter can achieve. Last year the chapter participated in leadership training at the Regional Honors Conference in Potosi, and two members were honored at the national conference in Seattle, WA: Debbie Zamora was elected president of the Missouri chapter which covers the entire state of Missouri and includes 26 chapters; Carleen Murray was named Distinguished Member Award.

Members organized a cell phone collection drive to benefit American soldiers serving abroad, and are currently accepting donations of books to benefit The Haven of Grace, a home and support system for young, pregnant women. They regularly participate in other community service projects at the college.

During the ceremony, members also took the opportunity to honor Donna Babbitt, chair of Business Administration and Social Sciences, and Teri Graville, assistant professor of Mathematics who served as past advisors, and to recognize Trish Aumann, coordinator of Campus Life and College Transition, who currently serves as the advisor. A number of other faculty and staff were also recognized for their contributions to the chapter. They were Melissa Joy Benton-Hopper, Amy Buatois, David Cormier, Al Fillenwarth, Helen Nauman, Jeff Smith, Mark Weber, Dorothy Welty and Allyson Wright.