National Society of Collegiate Scholars inducts 517 at KU in annual ceremony

LAWRENCE -- The University of Kansas chapter of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars inducted 517 new members at annual fall semester ceremonies in September in the Kansas Union ballroom. Marlesa Roney, vice provost for student success at KU, addressed student members, their families and guests.

NSCS is an organization for freshman and sophomore college students that recognizes scholarship and leadership. Individuals must have a 3.4 grade-point average to be eligible for membership. Among the 205 NSCS chapters nationwide are four in Kansas, including ones at KU, Kansas State University, Fort Hays State University and Wichita State University. The KU chapter was founded in 2000. Sue Lorenz, assistant director of the KU Honors Program, is adviser of the KU chapter.

The major philanthropy for the KU NSCS chapter is its Planning for College Success Tutoring and Mentoring Program (PFCS). The group has placed about 80 KU student volunteers in 19 public schools in Lawrence, including the East Heights Early Childhood Family Center, elementary schools, junior high schools and high schools, as well as the St. John Campus of the Lawrence Catholic School. Among the KU students' efforts are help with homework, academic and organizational skills, and class projects.

In addition, the students organize community service events each month that have included Relay for Life, Trick-or-Treat So Others Can Eat, adopting a family for Christmas and volunteering at the Jubilee Café, a Lawrence restaurant that serves breakfast to impoverished or homeless people.

Katie Manley, El Dorado senior in pre-law, psychology and sociology, is KU chapter president. She is the daughter of Norman and Joy Manley and she is a graduate of El Dorado High School. Lauren Erickson, Papillion, Neb., junior in journalism and mass communications (strategic communications emphasis), is chapter vice president in charge of the PFCS activities. Her parents are Raymond and Susan Erickson and she is a graduate of Papillion-LaVista High School.

New members and their hometowns, parents and high schools are listed online at http://www.news.ku.edu/2004/04N/DecNews/Dec3/directory.html.

Kansas counties: Allen, Anderson, Atchison, Bourbon, Brown, Butler, Coffey, Cowley, Crawford, Douglas, Dickinson, Doniphan, Ellis, Finney, Ford, Gove, Gray, Greenwood, Harvey, Jefferson, Johnson, Leavenworth, Lyon, Mitchell, Meade, Montgomery, Miami, Marion, McPherson, Marshall, Nemaha, Pawnee, Rice, Riley, Reno, Rooks, Salina, Scott, Sedgwick, Sherman, Shawnee, Woodson and Wyandotte. Other states: Alabama, Arizona, California, Iowa, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Utah. Other countries: Bosnia-Herzegovina; Bolivia; Brazil; China; Kinshasa, Congo; Hong Kong; Japan; Nigeria; and Saudi Arabia.