The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi

Installation and First Induction Ceremony of University of Maryland, Baltimore Campuses (UMB-UMBC) Chapter

On May 6, 2010, to the music of The Centennial March, Southeast regional Vice President Ray J. Davis led the academic procession of chapter officers and charter members of the new University of Maryland, Baltimore Campuses (UMB-UMBC) chapter of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.  The Baltimore Campuses chapter completes the disaggregation of the University of Maryland’s Chapter 22, founded in 1920, into four distinct chapters.  The ceremony to install the Baltimore Campuses chapter and initiate its first members was held in the University Center Ballroom on the UMBC campus.  Antonio R. Moreira, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at UMBC, and Erin Golembewski, Associate Dean of the Graduate School at UMB, represented the Provosts of the two campuses, and Freeman A. Hrabowski III, President of UMBC, welcomed initiates and their guests to the event.  He also noted that the new chapter continues a long history of interaction between the two universities, which have ongoing joint academic programs and collaborative research projects.

Nineteen of the 22 Charter members of the chapter were present, and together they took the pledge to foster the aims of Phi Kappa Phi.  Dennis Coates, chapter President, signed the charter, and then he called each charter member individually to sign as well. This was a particularly moving aspect of the ceremony, because it gave all present the opportunity to reflect on the significance of this beginning.  In addition to the charter, originating members also signed the leather-bound registry of chapter members.

After Ray Davis installed Dennis Coates as the President of the new chapter, the remaining officers were installed together as a group, with all pledging to fulfill their responsibilities to the chapter and to promote academic excellence:

• Eileen Patton, President-Elect
• Deirdre Parsons, Vice President, University of Maryland, Baltimore
• Constance Pierson, Secretary
• Marilyn Demorest, Treasurer
• Beth Wells, Public Relations Officer
• Marsha Goldfarb, Director of Awards

Christopher Steele, Vice President, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, was unable to attend the ceremony. 

Director of Awards Goldfarb then presented two fellowship awards from the Maryland Phi Kappa Phi Foundation.  Chinonyerem Okoro, a Biological Sciences major, received the $2,500 Walter V.  Hohenstein Fellowship and Carla Sateriale, an Economics major, received the $2,500 W. Jackson Stenger Fellowship.

At the start of the initiation segment of the ceremony, President-Elect Patton shared information with initiates and guests about the meaning of the Phi Kappa Phi motto, Philosophía Krateítõ Photôn.  Initiates from both of the Baltimore campuses of the University of Maryland –UMBC and UMB–then proudly took the pledge and received congratulations from President Coates, all of the officers and charter members, and the guests.  Each initiate present announced her/his name and academic program before ascending the stage to receive the PKP medallion and personal congratulations from Vice President Davis, President Coates, Vice Provost Moreira, and Associate Dean Golembewski.  As initiates descended the stage, each one signed the registry of chapter members.  Charter members Beth Wells, Robert Deluty, and Cheryl Miller served as marshals assisting students at each step of the initiation process

Following the ceremony, Vice President Davis signed the charter as PKP’s designated representative and joined the proud campus representatives, charter members, chapter officers, initiates, and their beaming guests for a reception.

Submitted by Beth Wells, Public Relations Officer, June 7, 2010.