On Monday February 16 at 7:00 pm, eight Ashland University
students humbly arrived to the Kate’s center to graciously be inducted into
Lambda Pi Eta. Of these eight people, many came with supportive friends and
family members to share this special moment with them as Department Chair, Dr.
Theodore Avtgis, stood at the door to kindly greet them. As faculty members
were making last-minute arrangements to the room, the scholars began to
patiently take their seats as they waited for the ceremony to begin. President
Lauren Fattlar and Vice-President Nell Cronin stood eager to introduce the
beliefs that their chapter is based on and announce their new inductees to
their audience. Faculty Advisor to
Lambda Pi Eta, Dr. Dariela Rodriguez began the ceremony with opening remarks
and then handed the ceremony over to Fattlar and Cronin.
Lambda Pi Eta is a group of people who strive for excellence
in all aspects of education in communication. This chapter is recognized as the
official Communication Studies honor society of the National Communication
Association. The ideas and beliefs that this chapter was founded on are based
on the three modes of persuasion that Aristotle described in his book The Rhetoric. These three modes of
persuasion are Logos, Pathos, and Ethos. Logos refers to logic and aids in problem-solving,
Pathos relates to emotion and stirring up the passion of the audience, and
finally, Ethos refers to the credibility and ethics that is initially
established with the audience. Founded on these ideas, this chapter was
initially started by the University of Arkansas in the Department of
Communication in 1985. By 1994, the
chapter was established as the official national communication honor society
for undergraduates. At this point in time, there are now 344 active chapters
around the world who share the same six goals of Lambda Pi Eta:
- To recognize, foster, and reward outstanding scholastic achievement in communication studies;
- Stimulate interest in the field of communication;
- Promote and encourage professional development among communication majors;
- Provide an opportunity to discuss and exchange ideas in the field of communication;
- Establish and maintain closer relationships between faculty and students; and
- Explore options for graduate education in communication studies.
The qualifications that are needed in order to be a member
of this chapter are not exactly easy to obtain. These requirements include a
minimum GPA of 3.25 in communication studies. The full-time student also must
be a communication major, have completed at least 60 credit hours of
undergraduate courses, and also have successfully completed at least 12 credit
hours of communication courses.
As the ceremony began to induct the new members into the
Alpha Alpha Rho Chapter, one candle was lit for each of Aristotle’s mode of
persuasion. As each name was then announced, the inductee accepted the
certificate and the red and white honor cords that were then placed around
their neck by Advisor Dr. Dariela Rodriguez. Along with these eight people that
were inducted, there were four others that were unable to attend, making this
the biggest inductee group Ashland University has ever seen. This
record-breaking group consists of Taylor Campbell, Joel Gregory, Joyce Grendel,
Halee Heironimus, Jacob Krupp, Paige Lamb, Emily Miller, Lauren Miller, Megan
Salatino, Emma Tappel, and Madison Wright. This driven group of people will now
take their ideas and beliefs to help Lambda Pi Eta grow and thrive to the best
it can be. Congratulations to these twelve individuals on their accomplishments
and hard work.
