Honor Society Recognized

Dickinson's Alpha Lambda Delta chapter earns two awards

September 2, 2012

Dickinson's chapter of Alpha Lambda Delta (ALD), a national honor society for first-year college students, recently earned two awards for its strong membership expansion and high yield rate. Granted by the ALD's national council, the 2012 Delta Gold award recognized the chapter's 51 percent growth over 2010-11, and the 2012 Alpha Silver award honored the chapter's achievement in initiating 85 percent of invited students for 2011-12. 

"We recently took a look at the program and decided to reinvigorate it," says Shalom Staub, associate provost and first-year class dean, who serves as a co-advisor for Dickinson's ALD chapter along with Christopher Francese, associate professor of classical studies. "We encouraged the student leadership to increase the number and variety of programs, initiating activities such as dinners with faculty to enrich the academic experience outside the classroom."

Established in 1924 at the University of Illinois, ALD is made up of students who have earned at least a 3.5 grade-point average during their first year of college. In addition to recognizing these achievements, the society organizes student-led community-service initiatives and provides leadership-development activities and the opportunity to earn scholarships.

"ALD fosters a student culture that seeks to engage the academic and intellectual dimensions in informal and social contexts," says Staub, noting that this has been possible with the support of faculty members and The Clarke Forum.

Dickinson's chapter, which has been in existence since 1989, currently has 231 members.

For Further Reading:

Dickinson's Alpha Lambda Delta Web page