Ninety-eight new members were inducted into the Elon University School of Communications chapter of Lambda Pi Eta at a May 6 ceremony in McKinnon Hall.
Adviser Frances Ward-Johnson introduced chapter president Megan Prilutski and her fellow officers Sana Advani, Caroline Fox, Emily Sanner and Josh Tate. They led the new LPE students through the induction ritual.
Keynote speaker Connie Book, the associate dean in the School of Communications, delivered an inspiring speech that empowered the students to realize their limitless potential and to be aware always of the power they will soon have as communications professionals.
Book shared several personal anecdotes from her time at a news station and gave the inductees three thoughts on power:
• “What you do as communications professionals is important.”
• “Fine-tune your gut instinct. Data does help.”
• “Good leaders are out there, so pay attention, learn from them and understand your power.”
Book also told students to give people second chances and to recognize people for their successes.
“In communications, the power is about ideas,” she said. “I hope you continue to choose the path that we’re honoring tonight—and that’s the path of excellence.”
At the end of the ceremony, the new LPE officers were announced. Anne Hellweg will become president, and Sean Glynn will serve as vice president. Carolyn Beringer was named secretary, Erin Culloty will act as treasurer, and Margaret Padilla will be the scholarship chair.
Senior journalism major and Leadership Fellow Ashley Barnas was given the Senior Scholarship Award, which provides her with a $500 scholarship. Barnas, who was named the Outstanding Senior in Journalism by the School of Communications earlier in the spring, has worked for The Pendulum all four years of her Elon career.
The Elon chapter of Lambda Pi Eta, an organization affiliated with the National Communication Association, got its start in 1998. Any School of Communications student is eligible for membership when he or she has completed at least 60 hours of university credit, with at least 12 of those hours in the School of Communications. Members must possess no less than a 3.0 overall GPA, and a GPA of at least 3.25 in the School of Communications.
The new inductees are:
Alesandra Abramoski
Joseph Accordino
Elizabeth Baldwin
Sarah Bean
Riley Beetner
Mary Bender
Kirsten Bennett
Carolyn Beringer
Lars Bredahl
Meaghan Britain
Kaitlin Buck
Paul Busby
Elizabeth Bushelow
Megan Carter
Chelsea Castner
Joshua Chagani
Jeremiah Chapman
Meagan Chieppor
Kellye Coleman
Allison Constable
Christina Cooper
Beatrice Copeland
Mary Cornick
Molly Cox
Catherine Creeden
Erin Culloty
Eugene Daniel
Jamie Lee Devantier
Brittany Dewey
Benjamin Donnelly
Elise Donoho
Michael Feldman
Kendall Ford
Jessica Glasser
Sean Glynn
Laura Goodman
Jasmine Gregory
Joanna Hardy
Alex Harrington
Meagan Harrison
Lauren Hawkesworth
Anne Hellweg
Theresa Helmer
Jennifer Hendricks
Meg Hewitt
Jacqueline Higgins
Emily Highet
Danielle Howard
Shenee Howard
Alexa Johnson
Amanda Jones
Sara Kaplan
Lauren Kenney
Daniel Koehler
Linda Kurtz
Lauren Leonard
Hillary Liebtag
Christopher Liotta
Amanda Long
Mary Lueck
Zachary Luz
Ian McAllister
Ashley McGraw
Amy McLeod
Kari Miller
Emily Miller
James Moss
Lauren Murphy
My Nguyen
Hillary Noble
Stephanie Oden
Margaret Padilla
Nicole Parker
Mathilde “Brent” Price
Megan Reed
Heather Rodgers
Bryan Rogala
Alexander Salaymeh
Christy Schmidt
Scott Seel
Lauren Sharp
Kate Shirley
Jessica Sikking
Julianne Simpson
Julia Smith
Laura Smith
Emily Speer
Julianne Strauss
Ryan Sweeney
Matthew Taylor
Lauren Warr
Christopher “Tyler” West
Rebecca Wetherbee
Alanna Winsper
Colleen Wood
Caitlin Wood
Kristen Wrenn
Sarah Zimmerman