The California State University, Stanislaus chapter of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi held its annual initiation ceremony May 2 to welcome 73 new student initiates — the most in the chapter’s 16-year history — and six new faculty and administration initiates.
Membership in Phi Kappa Phi — the nation’s oldest, largest and most selective all-discipline honor society — is by invitation and requires nomination and approval by a chapter. It is open to:
- the top 7.5 percent of juniors by department, with a minimum grade-point average (GPA) of 3.75;
- the top 10 percent of seniors by department, with a minimum GPA of 3.75;
- the top 10 percent of graduate students by department, with a minimum GPA of 3.85 and a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.60; and
- faculty members and administrators who have achieved scholarly distinction.
The ceremony capped a busy year for the CSU Stanislaus chapter, which collected more than 400 books during its “Spooktacular Book Drive” and gave them to children during the university’s Halloween Gala in October. Phi Kappa Phi members also helped prepare more than 100 food boxes for distribution at the United Samaritan Foundation for Community Service Day in February.
Student Vice President Kayla Reeder attended the honor society’s Student Leadership Summit in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and staff member Randi Esau attended a Partnering for Success workshop in Orlando, Florida. The chapter also held events for the campus community as part of Phi Kappa Phi Week in advance of the initiation ceremony: Professor John Mayer hosted “Twelfth Night” director Dan Gately and actor Paul Romero in a behind-the-scenes seminar, and chapter President Janice Herring and Secretary Shawna Young co-hosted a Princeton Review webinar on graduate school admission. Student vice presidents Janessa Jiminez, Teryn Mathews, Heather Strong, Christina Alger, Isaac Farhadian and Manpreet Bassi participated in activities and helped increase the visibility of the chapter throughout the year.
New junior members, listed with their hometown and major, are: Walter Francisco Astorga, Ceres, Theatre Arts; Kate Brown, Tracy, English; Maira Lisset Campos, Manteca, Child Development; Lacy DeWilms, Modesto, Business Administration (Management); Emma Lenee Duffy, Modesto, Business Administration (Marketing); Karina Inez Hernandez, Modesto, Computer Information Systems; Kristy Jacobson, San Andreas, Business Administration (Accounting); Forrest Robert Kohl, Modesto, Chemistry; Stephanie Lopez, Turlock, Geography; Aron Madrigal, Modesto, Criminal Justice; Joanna Gutierrez Perez, Turlock, Psychology; Eliseo Raya-Hernandez, Riverbank, Business Administration (Accounting); Katie Sarah Segura, Manteca, Psychology; Fatima Serrato, Lathrop, Nursing; Chi Thao, Stockton, Psychology; Alexander Michael Trimble, Modesto, Computer Science; Franchesca Valerie Villegas, Turlock, Liberal Studies; Channing Wilson, Turlock, Kinesiology; and Summer Wintersteen, Modesto, Psychology.
New senior members are: Michael Able, Modesto, Biological Sciences; Sinella Aghasi Moshabad, Turlock, Music; Mariela Aguilar, Atwater, Spanish; Bernadette Olinda Bettencourt, San Jose, Kinesiology; Deborah J. Blevins, Los Banos, Business Administration (Marketing); Sitka Boehmer, Patterson, Business Administration (Accounting), Cole Branch, Oakdale, Business Administration (Management); Vanessa Leyna Marie Brazil, Merced, English; Kristyn Faye Brummel, Escalon, Nursing; Donna Marie R. Castanares, Tracy, Kinesiology; Shanil Chandra, Modesto Business Administration (Accounting); Rita Chikrallah, Turlock, Nursing; Rebekah Evon Conrad, Modesto, Psychology; Jorge Martin Contreras, Turlock, Criminal Justice; Kathryn Dahlgren, Ripon, Computer Science; Katie Michelle den Dulk, Ripon, Nursing; Jake Tyler Duffy, Modesto, Business Administration (Management); Miriam Adilene Espinosa, Atwater, Spanish; Charlene R. Gallagher, Modesto, Kinesiology; Yuliya Gerasimchuk, Modesto, English; Elena Greenberg, Modesto, Geology; McKenzy Cheyanne Harden, Ceres, Kinesiology; Danielle Harvey, Stockton, Business Administration (Accounting); Colleen M. Hogan, Brentwood, Nursing; Ashley Kavarian, Modesto, Business Administration (Marketing); Lauren Alice Kopinec, Discovery Bay, Nursing; Sandra DonnaSky Krause, Turlock, English; Emily Anne Latronica, Los Banos, Liberal Studies; Ashlyn Lauryn Lazarom, Valley Springs, Criminal Justice; Frederick A. Mael, Modesto, Nursing; Jake Magneson, Cressey, Philosophy; Jo Marengo-Hawkins, Stockton, English; Michelle Morales, Ceres, Gender Studies; Terry Murray, Patterson, Ethnic Studies; Tuyet Thi Anh Nguyen, Santa Clara, Nursing; Gabriela Rose Oliver, Modesto, Criminal Justice; Yolanda Pantoja, Riverbank, Anthropology; Stephanie L. Reibert, Livermore, Art; Justin Relaford, Turlock, Business Administration (General); Megan Mikel Rocha, Atwater, Nursing; Cheyanne Kristen Shinn, Waterford, Biological Sciences; Iziah C. Topete, Modesto, Physics; Amandeep Uppal, Turlock, Nursing; Ana Rochelle Uy, Turlock, Nursing; Rebecca Van Klaveren, Modesto, Kinesiology; Donald Wright, Escalon, Business Administration (Accounting); and Vanessa M. Yee, Riverbank, Psychology.
New graduate student members are: Leisa Marie Baltz, Turlock, Social Work; Catherine E. Bennett, Modesto, Ecology and Sustainability; Deborah S. Forester, Merced, Psychology; Kelly Kathleen Guest, Turlock, Education; Eric Benjamin Nystrom, Turlock, History; Daniel Thomason, Atwater, Social Work; Judy Viney, Modesto, Education; and Maranita Zare, Turlock, Social Work.
New faculty and administration members are: Ellen Bell, Associate Professor, Anthropology; Dave Colnic, Associated Professor, Public Administration; Marjorie A. Jaasma, Interim Associate Vice President for Academic Planning and Analysis; Victor Luèvano, Associate Professor, Psychology; Molly Crumpton Winter, Professor, English; and Jesse Wolfe, Associate Professor, English.