Honors society initiates new members
Alpha Lambda Delta inducts freshmen who are full-time students with a 3.5 or higher GPA
The Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society hosted its annual freshmen initiation Friday, April 5 in the Towns Auditorium to a standing-room-only crowd of more than 700 people.
Marilyn Gadomski, faculty advisor for the Alpha Lambda Honor Society, welcomed the crowd of initiates along with their guests.
Membership — Students attended the initiation to be officially inducted into the honors society. Photo provided
The guest speaker for the night was State Sen. Steve Newman, who congratulated the initiates on their academic achievement.
“Seek to be educated in such a way you will become personally fulfilled,” Newman said. “Education without principle is dangerous.”
Gadomski also spoke about the privilege and responsibility of the ALD membership and presented the Pauline Donaldson Exemplary award to incoming officer Abigail Coyle. Along with ALD administrative advisor Bessie Grayson, Gadomski initiated members.
Gadomski and the 2012 officers of the ALD installed the new officers, and afterwards, a dessert reception took place in the foyer of the Towns Auditorium.
Qualifications to become a member of the ALD include a 3.5 GPA and enrollment in a full-time undergraduate program. Prospective members are invited by the National ALD and fill out paperwork via the national ALD website. According to Grayson, they also pay a fee to cover administrative costs. After acceptance, they may also apply to be an officer for the upcoming school year.
According to Grayson, the ALD is a service organization that focuses not only on campus service, but on ministering to the Lynchburg community.
ALD officers planned events at the start of the school year and sponsor the annual spring teddy bear drive. The ALD has also participated in delivering care packages to honors professors as well as the cleaning staff at Liberty and ministers to underprivileged children at the Jubilee Center in Lynchburg. Members provide meals to the families in the program during Thanksgiving and organize holiday programs throughout the year.
More than 500 students were initiated into the ALD, which currently has more than 2,900 members in the Liberty University chapter. The chapter joined the National ALD in 1986 and has been growing ever since, according to Grayson.