Alpha Lambda Delta hosts ceremony

The Order of the Torch Award was presented to five members of Liberty’s honor chapter

It is not unusual for Liberty students to excel both in and out of the classroom, and Friday, Oct. 26 was no different for five exceptional students.

On that night, the Alpha Lambda Delta (ALD) National Honor Society presented the Order of the Torch Award to five members from Liberty’s chapter at a ceremony hosted by faculty advisor Marilyn Gadomski. The ceremony, which was held in the Grand Lobby of DeMoss Hall, included a brief speech about the Order of the Torch Award and the history of the ALD by Sandrea Williamson, one of nine National Council Members. She presented the students with the Order of the Torch banner and commended them for their hard work.

Recognition — Members are awarded for their yearly accomplishments. Photo provided

Although the ALD is represented by 270 college chapters around the country, only five are awarded with the Order of the Torch Award every year. To win the Order of the Torch Award, chapters must create a scrapbook portraying the events and activities from the past year. Only five members per chapter may take part in the designing of the scrapbook.

“The scrapbook was an accumulation of all of our events that we did, starting with our initiation and ending with the initiation of the new class officers,” Liberty junior and ALD member Audrey Ralon said. “The events included everything from the local teddy bear drives that we did, when we went to the jubilee center, and sending out Thanksgiving packages. (The scrapbook) was just a recap to let the other ALD members see what we did throughout the year. The purpose of it was to share our chapter and our success and to view other chapters and their successes.”

Liberty junior and ALD advisor Sara Compton said she had never heard of the society before she was invited to become a member by Liberty’s chapter.

“The ALD is actually a really good society,” she said. “It’s something where once you are in it, you are in it forever. They offer a lot of scholarships. They offer resources to help you build your leadership skills.”

The Order of the Torch Award was not the only award presented at the ceremony. Brian Maulding, the president of Liberty’s chapter, received the 2012 Jo Anne J. Trow Award. Mauldin was one of 35 members of the ALD nationwide to receive the Jo Anne J. Trow Award, which also includes a $1,000 scholarship.

“Our (chapter) nominated two people for this award,” Mauldin said. “It was a fairly typical scholarship application. I had to send in my résumé, my transcript and a couple of recommendation letters from this club to the ALD. I was the head president of this chapter, so that probably affected how I did, and also that I took a leading role in the ALD helped my chances of winning.”

According to Williamson, Liberty is one of the top six schools among ALD’s 270 in the country for their academic standing.

“Your chapter has been really active and has (done) wonderful work,” Williamson said. “Liberty is in the top six (chapters) in the nation. That’s outstanding.”

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