VGCC students from Vance County who were inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa honor society on April 16 included, in front row, from left: Kissy Lynn Brown, JoLynne Allana Nichole Winstead, Kirstin Scott Currin, Kristen Taylor Cash, and Franceine Darcel Cole; second row, from left: Cynthia Denise Littlejohn, Ailsa Francine Hobson, Mindy Renee Cash, and Selena Lynn Bullock; third row, from left: Clinton Ray Burnette, Imani Ife Guy, and Bobby Gee Elmore. (VGCC Photo)
Vance-Granville Community College recognized 77 students who were inducted into Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for students of two-year colleges, on April 16 in the Civic Center on the college’s Main Campus. VGCC students honored with induction into Phi Theta Kappa must have a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.5 (3.75 for part-time students) in associate degree curriculum programs and have completed at least 12 credit hours toward their degrees.
As advisors for VGCC’s PTK chapter, Health Sciences Admissions Coordinator Evelyn Hall and instructors Maureen Walters, Julie MacDonald and Kristi Ellenberg conducted the ceremony. MacDonald told the new inductees and their families and friends in attendance that since VGCC’s chapter of PTK, Alpha Sigma Chi, was chartered in 1991, more than 1,000 students have been selected for induction. Walters said that while scholarship is the first aim of PTK, the society also encourages fellowship, leadership development and service to others, and she noted that the letters Phi Theta Kappa stand for the Greek words for “Wisdom,” “Aspiration” and “Purity.”
Dr. Stelfanie Williams, the president of the college, congratulated the new inductees and introduced the guest speaker, English instructor and 2012-13 VGCC Faculty Member of the Year Wendy Frandsen. In her remarks, Frandsen noted that the honored students had excelled at an institution that maintains high academic standards. As evidence of those standards, she cited statistics that showed that, after two semesters at one of the state’s public universities, 95% of former VGCC students had a grade-point average of 2.0 or higher — a percentage that was higher than that of students who had started at those same universities as freshmen. “Your accomplishments show that you are not only smart, but also hard-working and curious,” Frandsen told the students. “You’re also important as role models to everyone in your family or your neighborhood. You can now share your skills and knowledge with others. Congratulations on being the scholars of our community!”
This year’s inductees into the Alpha Sigma Chi chapter of Phi Theta Kappa are:
From Durham County
Janie Kathryn Howell, Justin Roberts Lee, Brenda Ellis Watson and Andrea Williams, all of Durham.
From Franklin County
Judy Vann McIntosh of Bunn;
Teresa Lynne Exley, Roxie Lee Gilliam and Jane Lea Miller, all of Franklinton;
Joseph David Ahrens, Sheila Marie Alston, Rachel Antoinette Beddoes, Matthew W. Davis, Magdalene Myra Dorsey, Abigail May Dorsey, Octavia Mercedes Houston and Haleigh Morgan Meffert, all of Louisburg;
Sherri Infranco and Chelsea Morgan Woods, both of Wake Forest;
Sandra Sue Carrier, Thomas Mitchell Carter, Michael Jacob Luchsinger and Keli Danielle Smith, all of Youngsville;
Victoria Lynn Gupton of Zebulon.
From Granville County
Rebecca Louise Lee of Bullock;
Elizabeth Austen Davis and Ruth Price Tucker, both of Butner;
Rebecca Lynn Fetterhoff, Ailsa Francine Hobson and Lyndsey Ann Meyerson, all of Creedmoor;
Christina L. Cates, Kasey Nicole Renuart and Roy Allan Robinson, all of Franklinton;
Tracey Lee Carson-Johnson, Sandra Wagner Graham, Peyton Hancock Grissom, Dorsal Cozart Hewitt, Tyler Craig Parrott, Megan Christy Sullivan, Jessica Simone’ Sutton-Corrodus, Janet W. Thorpe, Danielle Mannix Whitfield, Kesha Nicole Williams and Wilbur Wright Yeargin, all of Oxford;
Maria Ovelle Wood of Roxboro;
Sonia Maria Bishop, Pamela Geraldine Cash and Stephen James Fullington, all of Stem;
Ashley Nicole Drake and Christopher Frank Drake, both of Stovall;
Kristine Ann Black of Wake Forest.
From Vance County
Kissy Lynn Brown, Clinton Ray Burnette, Mindy Renee Cash, Kristen Taylor Cash, Kirstin Scott Currin, Bobby Gee Elmore, Jordan Nicole Harrell, Cynthia Denise Littlejohn, Saundra Elaine Small, Julia Kathryn Sumner, JoLynne Allana Nichole Winstead, all of Henderson;
Joel Andrew Beach, Selena Lynn Bullock and Imani Ife Guy, all of Kittrell.
From Warren and Halifax counties
Franceine Darcel Cole of Afton;
Kiara La’sha’ Taylor of Littleton;
Lauren Nicole Hight, Cora Lee Mercy and LaShonda Ann Taylor, all of Macon;
Jabari Rashid White of Manson;
Theresa Chiplis and Rebecca Elizabeth Long, both of Norlina;
Bryan K. Coppedge and Filip Cvrkic, both of Warrenton.
From other counties
Mollie LeAnn Murphy of Castalia;
Amber Nicole Lankford of Efland;
Angela Marie Quinn of Raleigh.