NLC’s Alpha Zeta Eta ranked 4th in world

It has been an award-winning month for North Lake College’s Alpha Zeta Eta Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa.

Of the 1,284 chapters attending the 89th Annual Phi Theta Kappa International Convention in Nashville, Tenn., April 12-14, North Lake’s chapter placed fourth. President Vicki Riley, who received an International Distinguished Chapter President award, said the members had exceeded their goals. “I am very proud of our team,” she said. “For the first time ever in our chapter’s history, we have won two Hallmarks and rank fourth internationally. This is more than I ever imagined could happen this year.”

Virginia Jones, Student Programs and Resources director, received the Distinguished Administrator Award and attended the convention with the students.

“What was really neat about this convention was that all the colleges in the district were represented,” said Jones. “And we all took home awards.”

Other awards from the international convention included the Scholarship Hallmark Award and the Leadership Hallmark Award, and Alpha Zeta Eta was one of nine chapters to receive the Beta Alpha Continued Excellence Award. More than 4,000 Phi Theta Kappa members, faculty and college presidents from throughout the nation attended the convention. They had the opportunity to hear Al Gore and Dr. Jehan Sadat (Anwar Sadat’s widow) speak, as well as Sue Smith, the national director for Keep America Beautiful.

North Lake’s honor society members attended workshops on topics such as managing conflict, civic engagement, and speaking with confidence.

In March, the Alpha Zeta Eta members attended the Phi Theta Kappa Texas Regional Convention in Odessa and brought home 11 awards. Eighty-four chapters from Texas were represented at the convention, and North Lake was honored with the following: Alpha Zeta Eta achieved 5 Star Status, the highest a chapter can achieve; Dr. Herlinda Glasscock was placed in the Texas Hall of Honor for college presidents; the chapter received the Silver Pinnacle Award and the Platinum Pinnacle Award for membership; President Vicki Riley and member Huong Vo were placed in the Hall of Honor; Advisor Yolanda Romero received the Most Distinguished Advisor Award for the Texas Region, and the North Lake chapter received the Friend of Texas Award, the Icarus Award, and First Place in the Yearbook Competition.

After being a Texas Top Chapter since 1999, Alpha Zeta Eta received the prestigious Continued Excellence Award – the only chapter to receive this award for the Texas Region – which placed the chapter in a position to be a Top 25 Distinguished Chapter for the third consecutive year, and one of the five top chapters of more than 1,280 in the world at the International Convention.

Alpha Zeta Eta couldn’t have done this without our friends and family at North Lake,” said Advisor Yolanda Romero. “Thank you for your continued support.”