Phi Theta Kappa Wins Big at Regional Convention
A team of eight honors students and two advisors traveled to Houston, Texas last week to attend the Texas Phi Theta Kappa Regional Convention. The convention was led by Grayson College government professor Mary Linder who serves as the Texas Region Coordinator with support from the regional officers; one of whom is Rebecca Gillespie, a GC student. Throughout the weekend, participants attended general sessions and smaller breakout workshops where they learned how to strengthen their leadership skills and produce quality programs that improve student success and the communities they serve.
Each year, students complete a College Project and Honors in Action Project. In short, the College Project serves to strengthen the organization’s relationship with college administration and Honors in Action is a research-based service project. During the three-day event, awards were presented to chapters and individuals based on essays submitted for competition.
Omicron Psi Chapter at Grayson College received the following awards:
- Five Star Rating in the Chapter Development Plan (highest rating available)
- District II Hall of Honor, Students: Brittani Welch, Ashik Khulal, Bradley Presson, Edlain Ondo
- Hall of Honor for Members, Ashik Khulal
- Hall of Honor for Officers, Edlain Ondo
- Hall of Honor for College Administrators, Dr. Chase Machen
- Continued Excellence Award for Advisors, Dr. Molly Harris
- Distinguished Chapter Advisor Team, Dr. Molly Harris & Mary Linder
- College Project Award of Merit
- Honors in Action Award of Distinction- Theme 3: Rights & Responsibilities (top scoring project for Theme 3 in the Region)
- Honors in Action Award of Distinction (top scoring project in the Region)
- Most Distinguished Chapter (highest scoring chapter in the Region, out of 91 chapters)
The group will travel to Kansas City, MO to attend the international conference (PTK Catalyst) in April where they hope to return with additional awards. Student Rebecca Gillespie will campaign for international office and the advisors will present multiple educational forums. At the 2017 conference, the chapter was named First Finalist to the Most Distinguished Chapter.
About Phi Theta Kappa
Phi Theta Kappa, headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi, is the is the largest honor society in higher education with 1,300 chapters on college campuses in all 50 of the United States, U.S. territorial possessions and eight sovereign nations. Nearly 3 million students have been inducted since its founding in 1918, with approximately 134,000 students inducted annually.
For additional information, contact Dr. Molly Harris at harrism@grayson.edu.
