Senior Capstone Revives Communication Honors Society

by Zach Krauss

Lambda Pi Eta, a communication honors society that was disbanded over a decade ago, was reinstated thanks to the work of several senior communication students as part of a capstone project.

Dr. Chuck Elliott, professor of communication at Cedarville University, worked with senior communication students on a project that hadn’t been touched in over a decade. In 2001, the Cedarville University Communication Department began a chapter of Lambda Pi Eta, which is an honors communication society. The chapter only remained active for a couple of years before falling to the wayside amidst other activities that the department was focusing on.

The senior communication students worked the implementation of ideas regarding the structure for the honors society were it to be reinstated. The project they were working on was a part of their senior capstone course called Senior Seminar.  These students will be the first new members of the org following the induction on May 1st. The organization will be exclusive to students who are excelling in their studies after having gained experience in communication classes.

“We inducted the first cohort into the organization this year, and they’re mostly seniors,” Elliott said. “Next year, there will be a membership drive in the fall so that we can get a larger cohort of people which can actually plan and do things during the academic year.”

Elliott said that the society will be encouraged to do at least two events each semester, which includes anything from academic development opportunity to philanthropic or social activities. Brett Balsley, one of the students from the class who worked to plan the society’s revival, spoke about the way that the class planned to aid the department as a whole

“We wanted to put an emphasis on community and bringing people together, while also recognizing people for their academic success,” Balsley said. “There are so many great people in the communication department who don’t know the rest of us, and this could be an exciting opportunity to allow people to bridge that gap.”

After several years of dormancy, this society is going to function as a new way for the many majors within the communication department to connect. Elliott said that he hopes to be able to give students the opportunity to develop further and give them opportunities in the field of communication.

“It will give students the opportunity to become more professional and more skilled in their field,” Elliott said. “It was a very logical thing for us to want to reinstate and invest in.”

Zach Krauss is a junior pharmacy/music double major from central Texas and campus reporter for Cedars. He loves music, theatre, biology, community, and meeting new people.