For release: Dec. 3, 2012
News and Media Relations contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-5616 or Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu
University Honors
College contact: Dr. John Vile, 615-898-2596 or John.Vile@mtsu.edu
Alumnus Williams joins MTSU ODK fall initiates
MURFREESBORO — Alumnus
and NewsChannel5 investigative reporter Phil Williams was special alumnus
inductee at the Omicron Delta Kappa fall initiation ceremony Friday, Nov. 30,
in the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building amphitheater.
In all, 16 student initiates, two ODK circle squires and
three MTSU faculty/administrators joined Williams, a 1985 graduate from MTSU
and the honors program, in the ceremony.
“We had a good number of initiates,” Honors College Dean
John Vile said. “It truly was a wonderful evening.”
Vile said it was rewarding that Williams, an award-winning
television journalist, returned to his alma mater to be a part of the ceremony.
A Columbia, Tenn., native, Williams graduated in 1985 from
the College of Mass Communication and joined its Wall of Fame in 2003. While at
MTSU, Williams completed
his thesis, “Dissent in a Free Society,” during Dr. Ron Messier’s tenure as
honors program director. Messier was Williams’ thesis adviser.
Williams
is the winner of two George Foster Peabody Awards, the George Polk Award for TV
Reporting, a National Headliner Award and a 2012 Alfred I DuPont-Columbia Award
for excellence in local reporting. He has earned three DuPont awards.
New
faculty initiates included Dr. Debra Sells, vice president for student affairs
and vice provost for enrollment and academic services; Dr. Deana Raffo,
assistant professor of management; and Dr. Charlene True, associate professor
of educational leadership. Raffo was ill and unable to attend.
New ODK student members are juniors Jared Adams, Jonathan
Herlan, Nathan Phelps, Michael Ripley and Ashley Sweeton; seniors Chelsea
Fleet, Tyler King, Rachel Lee, Kayla McNabb, Jake Verhoeff, and Tyler Whitaker;
and graduate students, Marques Fulford, Natasha Gerstenschlager, Sarah
Gray-Panesi, Jonathan Murray and Victoria Warenik.
Sophomores Davis Thompson and Kevana West were introduced as
circle squires, a program that allows promising sophomores to be involved with
the local circle while they await full membership as juniors.
Michael
Giles Jr., an ODK Foundation trustee and a marketing manager for
Nashville-based Pedigree and Cesar pet food brands, shared the history of ODK
and issued a challenge to new initiates. Giles earned his bachelor’s from
Samford University in Birmingham and his M.B.A. from the University of Alabama.
The MTSU circle of ODK was chartered in April 2010 with 50
members, including President Sidney A. McPhee, Congressman Bart Gordon,
then-MTSU Foundation President Murray Martin and Roy Martin, brother of Paul W.
Martin Sr.
ODK, a national leadership honor society, was founded Dec.
3, 1914 at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va. ODK was the first
college honor society of national scope to give recognition and honor for
meritorious leadership and service in extracurricular activities and to
encourage development of general campus citizenship.
The ODK circle of MTSU accepts applications from juniors,
seniors and graduate students who maintain a 3.5 GPA and who are involved in
leadership and service roles on campus and in the community. The society
recognizes leadership in five areas: scholarship; athletics; campus/community
service, social/religious activities and campus government; journalism, speech
and the mass media; and creative and performing arts.
###
Photo captions
Alum Williams signs1.jpg
MTSU alumnus and
award-winning NewsChannel5 chief investigative reporter Phil Williams formally
signs the ODK membership book during Omicron Delta Kappa initiation ceremonies
Nov. 30 in the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building. (Photo by Andy Heidt/MTSU
Creative and Visual Services)
Michael Giles Jr.1.jpg
Guest speaker Michael
Giles Jr. shares Omicron Delta Kappa history and issues a challenge to
inductees and others attending the Nov. 30 event initiation ceremony. (Photo by
Andy Heidt/MTSU Creative and Visual Services)
ODK group photo1.jpg
2012 fall ODK
initiates include front row, from left, Jonathan Herlan, Rachel Lee, Tyler
Whitaker, Kayla McNabb, Sarah Beth Gray-Panesi, Chelsea Fleet, Dr. Charlene
True, Ashley Sweeton, Dr. Deb Sells and circle squire Joseph Thompson; and back
row, from left, alumnus Phil Williams, Jared Adams, Victoria Warenik, Nathan
Phelps, Marques Fulford, Tyler King and Jacob Verhoeff. Not pictured are
students Natasha Gerstenschlager, Jonathan Murray, Michael Ripley and sophomore
circle squire Kevana West, and faculty member Dr. Deana Raffo. (Photo by Andy
Heidt/MTSU Creative and Visual Services)
MTSU is
committed to developing a community devoted to learning, growth and service. We
hold these values dear, and there’s a simple phrase that conveys them: “I
am True Blue.” Learn more at www.mtsu.edu/trueblue. For MTSU news any time,
visit www.MTSUNews.com.
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