Seniors inducted into service honors society

Ashley Barletta, Staff writer

It is that time of year again where Mercyhurst recognizes seniors who are committed to serving others. The Service Honor Society will be inducting its new members virtually this year on Wednesday, April 28.

Bethany Woods, Associate Director of Community Engagement, said, “throughout the month of March, students were nominated by peers, faculty, staff or themselves, and upon nomi-nation were invited to complete profiles for the selection committee to review. The selection committee met in mid-April to review candidates and the inductees were chosen and notified of their ac-ceptance into the Service Honor Society.”The Service Honor Society be-gan in order to honor graduating students who demonstrate Mercyhurst’s commitment to ‘Service to Others.’ They show this commitment in numerous ways.

 

Collin Davis, a Hospitality major with a concentration in Hotel Management, as well as a Communications minor, is one of the many Service Honor Society inductees. “The Mercyhurst University Service Honor Society was estab-lished in 2006 to honor gradu-ating seniors who exemplify our mission-centered commitment to be an ‘Ambassador of Service.’There are different criteria for this award that includes marketed achievement in leadership, mer-itorious academic achievement and lastly recognized integrity and commitment to excellence,” said Davis.

The factors taken into consideration for those being inducted are: “Significant and sustained service to the Mercyhurst Univer-sity community and/or meaning-ful and mission-inspired service to the local community and/or larger world, marked achievement in leadership, meritorious academic achievement and recognized in-tegrity and commitment to excel-lence,” said Davis.

To be eligible for consideration of induction, a student is required to: be a full-time undergraduate student, be a senior who is certified to graduate in the current calendar year and have a grade point average of 2.75 or higher by the beginning of the spring semester which the student is to be inducted.

In addition they must be recommended for induction through an official nomination form and complete all of the necessary materials for induction requested by the Service Honor Society Selection Committee by the deadline which they are to be turned in.

Chris Streibich, an Accounting major inductee, said, “the Service Honor Society is an award dedi-cated to leadership and service when on campus. Mercyhurst is very service oriented, so there are many opportunities for service.” “I was a Laker Leader and went through the Mercy Emissary Pro-gram during my time here. I got nominated by a staff member, but I filled out an application where I listed my involvement and wrote 350-400 words on what I have done, and they choose students based on the applications,” said Streibich.

Students can nominate others for induction as well as themselves. The Service Honor Society Selection Committee will recommend inductees to the Committee Chair, who is in charge of approving the final induction list. Induction recommendations are based on the “quantity and quality of a student’s record of service, the scope of the service activities relative to the student’s overall profile, the range of service activities, and the resonance of the student’s commitment to service with the Mission of Mercyhurst University and the service tradi-tion of the Sisters of Mercy.”Woods said, “Inductees tra-ditionally have a sustained level of service to the community, are involved in sports, clubs and/ or organizations around campus and have a 2.75 GPA or higher.” While there is no limit to the number of students who can be inducted, we traditionally induct between 50-65 students each year. “This year, we had 72 students nominated and of those, 63 were selected for induction by a committee of 12 staff and adminis-trators from across campus,” said Woods.

Those who are inducted into the Service Honor Society will wear the green Mercyhurst University Service Honor Cord at their graduation. If you know someone who has been inducted into the Service Honor Society, be sure to congratulate them on their achievement. The Mercyhurst community is incredibly proud of the achievements of the class of 2021 and wishes each member the best of luck in their future endeavors.