ALD says farewell to graduating seniors
The Alpha Lambda Delta (ALD) Honor Society hosted an annual awards banquet honoring 122 graduating seniors Saturday, March 31. ALD is a cross-disciplinary honor society that looks at student’s grades during their first year and initiates them during their sophomore year when they can serve as “officers.”
Associate Professor for the School of Business Dr. Colleen A. McLaughlin was the keynote speaker for the evening. McLaughlin spoke on the topic of “Finishing well,” with reference to the Scripture passage of Ephesians 6:10-18. She told the students to close their eyes and imagine their dream job after graduation.
“God gave you that dream, and you should focus on developing goals and surrounding yourself with godly men and women as mentors,” McLaughlin said.
She proceeded to share her testimony of being abused as a child, her road to salvation following abuse, the diagnosis of a rare, incurable muscular disease and earning a PhD with a 4.0 GPA.
Several distinguished awards were handed out during the banquet. The Maria Leonard Senior Book Award, named after the organization’s first national president, is offered by the National Council for each chapter. The award is granted to the graduating member with the highest GPA in the class. This year, 10 students tied with 4.0 GPAs. As a result, National Geographic’s book titled “Through the Lens” will be donated to the library in their honor.
The Jo Anne Trow Award for the Liberty University Chapter is an award that includes an undergrad or graduate scholarship, ranging up to $6,000. Recipients from Liberty were 2011-12 ALD Chapter Officers Brian Mauldin (president) and Katherine Wood (co-president of external communication). National winners will be announced in July.
Dr. Marilyn Gadomski, a psychology professor and ALD faculty advisor, attended the banquet Saturday evening and shared how watching the seniors graduate is similar to a special chapter of life.
“It’s kind of like raising children. They start very young and immature, and it’s just so good to see them on the other end of that, becoming much more mature students,” Gadomski said.
“Because the students come in as sophomores, we see them when they don’t have very much leadership ability, and we watch them leave here with life plans made,” Gadomski said.
Sophomore pre-law major and ALD president Brian Mauldin expressed his pleasure of the overall turnout of the event, describing it as “inspiring.” In regards to future plans, Mauldin expressed interest in continuing his law degree at law school.
“I’m really interested in Constitutional law, but we’ll see where the Lord leads,” Mauldin said.
Wood said the banquet was really encouraging for her.
“I thought I would just be serving and seeing what it would be like when I’m a senior, but I received a lot of motivation just from talking with people at my table,” Wood said.
Wood, a member of the honors program, mentioned that even if she doesn’t win the award, it was still a good experience just to apply for it. She also recognized how watching the seniors graduate with high honors is an important example to follow.
“I think it’s really exciting, just knowing that they’ll carry out what they learned here.”