The Kent State chapter of Alpha Lambda Delta honor society inducted new members Friday, after being inactive at Kent State for six years, at Oscar Ritchie Hall.

Students who score a 3.5 GPA or higher and are in the top 20 percent of their class their freshman year are inductedx into the society.

Glenda Earwood, executive director of National Alpha Lambda Delta, said she thought it is important to recognize students’ academic excellence.

“Kent State has a football team. They get recognized,” she said. “Academic excellence doesn’t get recognized as much sometimes.”

Earwood, who spoke at the event, gave the new members certificates and the society’s insignia jewelry.

Retired cardiologist and author Terry Gordon also spoke at the initiation event about keeping a positive attitude and always trying to learn something new.

“You’re at the precipice of such an exciting time in your life,” he told the new members.

Gordon talked about keeping a positive perspective and shared a story of his own. He said his son was in a car accident in Durango, Colo., and was airlifted to Denver. Shortly after, Gordon boarded an overbooked plane headed there from Cleveland.

“It was the worst three hours of my life,” he said. He said he felt he was in a tornado and could see only “pure blackness” in it. It was then that he said God spoke to him.

“Treat this as if it is something you’ve chosen,” he said God told him. He said he didn’t understand at first but then finally did. His son suffered a major spinal cord injury but is alive and doing well.

Gordon also spoke about his education and his path to becoming a doctor. He talked about the importance of education and encouraged the new members to learn something new every day.

Sophomore marketing major Brittany Reed said she feels honored to be a part of the society.

“It seems important, and I think it would be really good to have on my resume in the future, and also, I’m interested in scholarships that I can now be eligible for,” Reed said.

“On the national level, we give folks scholarships from $1,000 to $6,000,” Earwood said. “Then there’s study-abroad scholarships of $1,000 and then fellowships from $3,000 to $7,500.”

Earwood said she is hoping the Kent State chapter of Alpha Lambda Delta will come back as strong as it was in the early 2000s.

Before it became inactive, the chapter would get 175 to 200 new members every year, and the goal is to return to that level of involvement, said Aaron Hanlin, coordinator of admissions in the Honors College.

Contact Patrick Williams at [email protected].