Mortar
Board news
Mortar Board welcomes two new chapters
Mortar Board now has 226 chartered chapters, with The University of Findlay installed in March and Lenior-Rhyne College installed in April. Both chapterss have selected excellent groups of students who are commited to the Mortar Board ideals of scholarship, leadership and service. They plan to develop traditions and participate in service activities unique to their communities, in Findlay, Ohio and Hickory, North Carolina respectively.
In order to have the privilege of obtaining a Mortar Board charter, an institution must be accredited, grant baccalaureate degrees, have support of the university administration, host official visits by a national representative of Mortar Board, and be voted upon by the organization’s board of directors, the National Council. Additionally, the group should serve as an active honor society that continues to make significant contributions to college and community life.
To learn more about starting a new Mortar Board chapter, click here.
Mortar Board conference assistants announced
Congratulations to the following students who have been selected to serve as conference assistants at the upcoming 2008 Mortar Board National Conference in Columbus, Ohio:
- Steve Brunner, Carnegie Mellon University
- Tammi Cooks, Washington University in St. Louis
- Breanna Dumke, Drake University
- Rishi Kumar, University of Maryland
- Betsy Miller, The University of Nebraska - Lincoln
- Sam Tyler, Endicott College
Ten
Mortar Board members named to USA TODAY's 19th annual All-USA College Academic Team program
Each year, USA TODAY honors undergraduate juniors
and seniors, nominated by their institutions for the well-deserved
recognition. Students recognized excel in scholarship as well as extend their intellectual abilities beyond the classroom to benefit society. This year, 10 Mortar Board members were among
those named to the All-USA College Academic Team program.
First Team:
Renee Rivas - University of Alabama
Second Team:
Michelle McGaha - University of Alabama
Jackson Switzer - University of Alabama
Tari Tan - Oregon State University
Third Team:
Phillip Adam Harbison - University of Alabama
Kerri Phillips - West Virginia University
James Dylan Whisenhunt - University of Alabama
Shandrack White - University of Mississippi
Honorable Mention:
Maria Prom - Carleton College
Taylor Barnes - Middle Tennessee State University
Mortar Board Week is here
Mortar Board Week has arrived to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Mortar Board National College Senior Honor Society, founded February 15, 1918.
Each year, to commemorate this founding, chapters celebrate with events exemplifying the organization’s three key ideals of scholarship, leadership and service.
A complete list of all the collegiate chapters and their Mortar Board Week activities, if provided, is available online at www.mortarboard.org/mbweek/events.html.
As we celebrate Mortar Board’s 90th anniversary, it is important to look back to the organization’s roots.
Honor societies often started as local organizations, ways for like-minded students to come together. Mortar Board started the same way, with local honor societies recognizing senior college women. Specifically, it all started with an inadvertent meeting by women from Ohio State University’s Mortar Board and Swarthmore College’s Pi Sigma Chi. These women met on the campus of the University of Chicago in 1915, upon realizing they wore similar mortarboard-shaped pins.
After talking, the women realized each of their honor societies held comparable values and had similar procedures. With this chance meeting, the wheels were set in motion for a national organization to be developed, closely reflecting the honor societies of the two women.
Other similar societies were sought out, and in 1918, five women representing five local honor societies joined for the “Convention for Nationalization of Honorary Societies for Senior Women.” The representatives were Ernestine Becker from Cornell University (Der Hexenkries), Anita Kelly Ranysford from The University of Michigan (Mortarboard), Helen Hobart from The Ohio State University (Mortar Board), Esther Holmes from Swarthmore College (Pi Sigma Chi), and Carolyn Archbold from Syracuse University (Eta Pi Upsilon).
The motto was decided (scholarship, leadership and service), a pin was chosen (the mortarboard-shaped pin used by Ohio State, emblazoned with the Greek letters symbolizing the motto: Pi Sigma Alpha), and an initiation ceremony planned. However, the society remained nameless until 1919, taking on the now well-known name of “Mortar Board.”
Although Syracuse University soon chose not to affiliate with Mortar Board, a list of schools with similar organizations was quickly created and local organizations were invited to join.
The national organization quickly grew, chartering numerous local societies as chapters. Within the first 50 years, the national organization had chapters at 125 universities across the U.S.
In the early 1970s, both Mortar Board (a traditionally female organization) and Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK, a traditionally male organization) became coed organizations. Today, Mortar Board has chartered 223 chapters across the nation and 90 years later stays true to its motto of scholarship, leadership and service.
Mortar Board Week Visibility Grants awarded
The Mortar Board National Foundation has announced the recipients of the Mortar Board Week Visibility Grants. These grants, totalling nearly $3,000, were given to chapters who plan to increase awareness of Mortar Board throughout Mortar Board Week, held February 10 - 16, 2008.
Chapters at the following universities were awarded between $150 and $400 for promoting Mortar Board on their campus.
- Bowling Green State University
- Drury University
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Kansas State University
- Northwest Missouri State University
- University of Arkansas
- University of South Alabama
- University of South Florida
- University of Wyoming
- Washington University - St. Louis
- William Jewell College
The Mortar Board National Foundation was established in 1955 as the fundraising arm of Mortar Board, as well as to serve the educational aims of Mortar Board, Inc. The mission of the National Foundation is to support Mortar Board, Inc. in furthering its ideals of scholarship, leadership and service. Its primary goals are to provide fellowships to Mortar Board alumni pursuing graduate and professional degrees, grant funds to collegiate chapters for special projects that will enhance their contributions to their campus and community and raise funds to support leadership and service initiatives through grants to Mortar Board.
More than $60,000 available in fellowships; deadline approaching
The Mortar Board National Foundation has announced that $63,500 is available in fellowships for 2008-2009.
This is the highest amount available in Mortar Board history, nearly double the amount awarded for 2007-2008. It will be distributed among 15 qualified applicants, with individual fellowships ranging in value from $1,000 to $10,000.
Any Mortar Board initiate, regardless of age, is eligible to apply
for these fellowships – the only requirement is that they
be working toward a degree beyond their bachelor’s.
Recipients will be chosen based on academic record, recommendation, goals
and objectives, need, and contribution/commitment to Mortar
Board. The deadline to apply is January 31, and recipients will be notified by April 15.
More information:
Application
Recommendation form
Mortar
Board members receive Marshall Scholarships
Two Mortar Board members have been named 2008 Marshall Scholars:
Jeffrey Eaton (University of Washington - Seattle)
Imperial College London, Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Judd Kennedy (College of William and Mary)
School of Oriental and African Studies, International Studies and Diplomacy
Marshall Scholarships finance young Americans of high ability
to study for a degree in the United Kingdom. The awards
are held for two years and provide full financing. To learn
more about these prestigious scholarships and to see a complete
list of recipients, please visit www.marshallscholarship.org.
Mortar Board announces 2007-2008 national fellowship recipients
Each year, the Mortar Board National Foundation awards fellowships to members to assist in financing their post-graduate education. The 2007-2008 fellowship recipients are (listed alphabetically):
 |
James Blakemore
Fellowship: Washington State University classes of 1945-1950 Fellowship ($2,000)
Undergraduate university: Wichita State University (Initiated into Mortar Board in 2004)
Post-graduate university: Yale University, Department of Chemistry
|
 |
Brittany Cvetanovich
Fellowship: Ruth Weimer Mount Fellowship ($2,500)
Undergraduate university: Michigan State University (Initiated into Mortar Board in 2005)
Post-graduate university: Harvard Law School |
 |
Erin Frazee
Fellowship: Zelma Patchin Fellowship ($2,000)
Undergraduate university: Drake University (Initiated into Mortar Board in 2006)
Post-graduate university: Drake University, Pharmacy |
 |
Rachel Frederick
Fellowship: Mary Elizabeth Ramier Fellowship ($2,000)
Undergraduate university: Texas Tech University (Initiated into Mortar Board in 2006)
Post-graduate university: Texas Tech University HSC School of Medicine |
 |
Jenna Gross
Fellowship: Katherine Wills Coleman Fellowship ($2,000)
Undergraduate university: Butler University (Initiated into Mortar Board in 2006)
Post-graduate university: Indiana University School of Medicine |
 |
James Lamberg
Fellowship: Ruth Pierle Trosset Fellowship ($2,000)
Undergraduate university: University of Minnesota (Initiated into Mortar Board in 2005)
Post-graduate university: Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine |
 |
Rein Lambrecht
Fellowship: Mortar Board Fellowship ($3,000)
Undergraduate university: Case Western Reserve University (Initiated into Mortar Board in 2006)
Post-graduate university: Ohio State University School of Medicine |
 |
Leslie Lang
Fellowship: Ellen North Dunlap Fellowship ($3,000)
Undergraduate university: University of California at Berkeley (Initiated into Mortar Board in 2005)
Post-graduate university: Harvard Law School |
 |
Lynn Rombi
Fellowship: Barbara Cook Fellowship ($2,000)
Undergraduate university: University of San Diego (Initiated into Mortar Board in 2006)
Post-graduate university: University of San Francisco |
 |
Emily Sala
Fellowship: Mortar Board Fellowship ($3,000)
Undergraduate university: University of Mary Washington (Initiated into Mortar Board in 2006)
Post-graduate university: American University Washington College of Law |
 |
Lori Scardino
Fellowship: GEICO Fellowship ($5,000)
Undergraduate university: University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire (Initiated into Mortar Board in 2006)
Post-graduate university: University of Wisconsin - Madison |
 |
Samantha Spilka
Fellowship: Mortar Board Diane Selby Fellowship ($5,000)
Undergraduate university: San Diego State University (Initiated into Mortar Board in 2006)
Post-graduate university: Columbia University, Teachers College |
 |
Anne-Kathrin Witt
Fellowship: Student Trust Fellowship ($5,000)
Undergraduate university: Wesleyan College (Initiated into Mortar Board in 2006)
Post-graduate university: International Max Planck Research Institute for Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences (Ludwick Maximilians University) |
This year, a total of $38,500 in fellowships was awarded to 13 Mortar Board members. Fellowship recipients are chosen based on academic excellence, recommendation, promise, financial need and Mortar Board involvement. Since the establishment of the Mortar Board fellowship program in 1941, more than $500,000 has been awarded to assist members in pursuing further study in graduate or professional school.
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