Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Honor Society is an international honor society established in 1918 to recognize the scholarly achievements of those attending two-year institutions. The Eta Nu chapter at St. Petersburg College‘s St. Pete/Gibbs Campus is one of the oldest in the state of Florida, having been around since it was chartered on March 30, 1950. Since then, Eta Nu has earned many awards for its chapter activities and accomplishments and is one of the most decorated PTK chapters on the planet.
Generally, members of Eta Nu chapter strive to live by the ideals set forth in the International Constitution of PTK. Eta Nu has four hallmarks: Leadership, Scholarship, Service, and Fellowship. By fulfilling these ideals, the chapter encourages its members to continue their academic excellence. Eta Nu, having been at work since the summer of 2021, just wrapped up a busy year.
New inductees
Friday March 25, 2022, the PTK Honor Society – Eta Nu Chapter of the Gibbs Campus held its spring induction for new members at the Gibbs Music Center. About half of the 58 inductees attended the celebration of their accomplishments alongside their family members. The inductees and their families received a warm welcome from Provost Dr Leslie Hafer as well as from officers of Eta Nu chapter, including President Chad Lance, Vice President of Scholarship Cheryl Christian-Grant, Vice President of Service Elizabeth Hurley, Vice President of Fellowship Therese Leyva, and Vice President of Communication Jeremy Phipps. Vice President of Leadership Chloe Bethune was unable to attend.
Community service
In keeping with the values of PTK as well as the chapter tradition and its commitment to environmental sustainability, the Eta Nu chapter primarily focused its community service on beach cleanup at Upham Beach, in St. Pete Beach. Eta Nu members picked up litter once a month on the first Saturday.
Beach cleaning proved successful with Eta Nu members, local authorities, and local businesses. Indeed, because of its commitment to environmental cleanness, the City of St Pete Beach gave Eta Nu Beach Clean Up volunteers free parking passes for the first Saturday of each month until the end of this year. Also, Upham Beach’s Paradise Grill was able to work with our chapter officers to offer a 20 percent discount as a reward for the Eta Nu chapter’s efforts and commitment toward environmental sustainability.
Fellowship
Eta Nu is not just about inducting new members and community service. Eta Nu prides itself in trying to create lasting bonds between members. For that reason, Eta Nu organized various fellowship events throughout the spring semester. Some of these events allowed members to congregate together outside of formal bi-weekly on-campus meetings. Those events, which included food from Publix and Amazon Gift Card prizes for trivia winners, gave members the opportunity to know each other and build the fellowship necessary for the chapter to continue to be vibrant and engaged for the benefit of the entire college community and beyond.
Chapter duties
The work of Eta Nu chapter for this year is now complete. The chapter maintained its five-star status, the highest level of achievement a chapter can attain in Phi Theta Kappa through its participation in campus, local, regional, national, and international activities.
First, Eta Nu members attended the PTK Florida regional conference where they took workshops in leadership and community engagement, as well as took part in the process of PTK’s Florida Region Officer Elections. The five students who traveled to Jacksonville were Chad Lance, Chloe Bethune, Cheryl Christian-Grant, Allison Cook, and Sofia Bostick. Traveling members are usually selected based on their level of involvement in chapter activities or future potential for the chapter.
Second, the chapter completed a college project around mental health that sought to strengthen the chapter’s relationship with the college administration. Third, the chapter submitted an Honor in Action (HIA) research that culminated in raising awareness of our college and the city of St Petersburg’s efforts toward a sustainable future. This involved having April 22 recognized as Earth Day in the 2022-23 Student Handbook and Planners for the first time since Earth Day was established in 1970. Finally, from April 6 to 10, Eta Nu members were in Denver, Colorado, where they attended Catalyst 2022, Phi Theta Kappa’s premier annual event, which brings together members, advisors, and their supporters for professional development and celebration of the accomplishments of our community.
Thanks to financial support from Gibbs’ Student Government Association (SGA), seven student members traveled to Denver with us. The traveling group included Chad Lance, Chloe Bethune, Cheryl Christian-Grant, Allison Cook, Therese Leyva, Jeremy Phipps, and Ciara Cobbaras. Catalyst 2022 was an excellent opportunity for SPC student members to live to the purpose of our chapter. It was also a wonderful out-of-class experience for them.
Students were pleased with that experience. One Eta Nu attendee remarked, “The opportunity provided to me by attending Catalyst helped me redefine my educational goals and threw metaphorical gasoline onto the fire that drives me to continue bettering myself and my community through PTK.”
Indeed, students networked with other chapters and advisors, learned, and enjoyed the fruits of their hard work during the PTK year.
Finally, Eta Nu chapter was especially pleased that Dr Leslie Hafer, Gibbs Provost, was in attendance during Catalyst 2022 to receive the 2022 Phi Theta Kappa Distinguished College Administrator award, for which the chapter nominated her back in January. That Hallmark award is PTK’s highest international honor for an administrator. Also in attendance in Denver were advisors Jacob Wortock and Kelly Rich and members from Beta Theta Omega, Seminole’s PTK chapter. Catalyst 2022 concluded a very exciting and productive year for the Gibbs Campus Eta Nu chapter of Phi Theta Kappa.
Election and new officer team
Now that the 2021-2022 is over for PTK, the chapter turned its attention to the future. The election of a new officer team for the year 2022-2023 was held on Monday April 18, 2022. The new elected team is comprised of Therese Leyva (President), Jeremy Phipps (Vice President of Leadership), Cheryl Christian-Grant (Vice President of Scholarship and Service), Allison Cook (Vice President of Communication and Finance). The Vice President of Fellowship position remains vacant at present. Overall, the new officer team will have the task of continuing to live to the purpose of Eta Nu chapter: The promotion of scholarship, the development of leadership and service, and the cultivation of fellowship. This is shaping to be another exciting year for PTK on the Gibbs campus.