Pair of UH Mānoa honor societies win national recognition for public service

HONOLULU - The UH Mānoa chapters of Mortar Board and the Golden Key International Honour Society have achieved top recognition from their respective national organizations for outstanding community service.

The Hui Po‘okela chapter of Mortar Board was presented with the Silver Torch Award and Project Excellence Award for the 2006-2007 academic year - one of 51 chapters to be selected for timeliness and dedication while exemplifying the ideals of scholarship, leadership and service. Chapter President David Pesquira accepted the award.

The chapter also received a Project Excellence Award for its Angel Tree Coin Drive, which collected more than $500 to buy Christmas gifts for children on the Salvation Army Angel Tree. The Hui Po‘okela chapter was one of only 24 to receive the Project Excellence Award.

Mortar Board is a national honor society that recognizes college seniors for outstanding achievement in scholarship, leadership and service. Since its founding in 1918, the organization has grown from the four founding chapters to 223 chartered collegiate and 25 active alumni chapters with nearly a quarter of a million initiated members across the nation. The Hui Po‘okela chapter at the University of Hawaii was founded in 1965.

The UH Mānoa Chapter of the Golden Key International Honour Society has won "Gold" status — the highest level of achievement in the global organization — in recognition of outstanding volunteer service activities. The announcement was made in August at the Society‘s 2007 international conference of 335 chapters from around the world.

"I am incredibly proud of these young people who volunteer to make their world a better place on top of maintaining excellent GPAs (all members fall within the top 15% of juniors and seniors here at UHM), work, and family obligations," says UHM Assistant Dean of Students Lori Ideta, co-advisor of the Chapter. Ideta has been selected International Golden Key Advisor of the Year 2006-07.

Among the Chapter‘s activities this year are peer mentoring, campus and Ala Moana Beach cleanups, donation drives for Hawaiʻi Foodbank and American Red Cross, feeding homeless at the Institute Human Services, and weed eradication at the Hawaiʻi Nature Center.