Aug. 26, 2008

Morningside College chapter of first-year national honor society is honored

The Morningside College chapter of Alpha Lambda Delta has received awards for its efforts to continue pursuing excellence and to increase membership, and last year’s chapter president has received a $1,000 scholarship.

Alpha Lambda Delta is a national honor society that recognizes and encourages academic excellence among first-year college and university students. In 2007, Morningside College was one of five schools in the nation to receive an Order of the Torch Award from the National Council of Alpha Lambda Delta on the basis of outstanding chapter work in programming, internal communication, campus visibility and overall scrapbook presentation.

Recipients of the Order of the Torch Award are not eligible to compete for the award again for four years, so the national council developed the Maintaining the Flame Award for Torch winners who continue to pursue excellence. Morningside College has won the Maintaining the Flame Award for the 2007-2008 academic year.

Kendra Kock

Morningside College also has won the Bronze Membership Award from the national organization for showing a notable increase in membership during a single year. The chapter’s membership increased by 22 percent during the 2007-2008 academic year, with the chapter initiating 100 percent of the students eligible for membership.

Kendra Kock, a senior at Morningside College who served as president of the Morningside chapter of Alpha Lambda Delta, was one of 35 students in the nation chosen to receive a Jo Anne J. Trow Scholarship from the National Council of Alpha Lambda Delta. She received the scholarship because of her academic excellence, dedication to service and leadership in the local chapter. Kock is a 2006 graduate of Ar-We-Va High School and the daughter of Davey and Janine Kock of Breda, Iowa. She is a double major in accounting and business administration with an emphasis in finance.

Chapter advisors last year were Marty Knepper, professor and chair of English, and Terri Curry, vice president for student life and enrollment.