The Pomona College Awards and Scholars’ Banquet and Summer Science Poster Conference was held on Monday, September 24. The purpose of the banquet was to honor students from all five colleges who had distinguished themselves academically. It was, however, largely a Pomona event.

Among the students present were the select Pomona College Scholars, students with a GPA of 11.0 or higher. The newest members of Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi were also recognized. Various other individuals received prizes for excellence in certain fields. These prizes included grants, scholarships, fellowships, and other awards.

During the banquet Dean Gary Kates said of the relationship between Pomona’s honored scholars and the faculty, "We really depend on you to stimulate us. The Pomona College scholars are doing that."

Claire Becker ’03 is one of those students. She was honored on Monday as one of five students to receive a Dole Kinney Prize in creative writing. She remarked confidently about the money she received: "Four hundred dollars is just the start of the millions I’ll make writing poetry." An inductee to Sigma Xi, Rembrandt Haft ’02, said of his recognition, "I appreciate Pomona recognizing its students who have worked for and won these honors."

Earlier that evening, 58 Pomona College students were inducted into the National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS). Of the 58 new members, only 26 attended the inauguration, as many are currently studying abroad. This is the first year that NSCS has had a chapter on the Pomona campus. Carl Martellino is a co-advisor for the new NSCS organization and was involved in opening the Pomona chapter.

NSCS is open to college freshmen and sophomores who have distinguished themselves academically. Students apply at the end of their freshmen or sophomore years and are inducted early the following semester. GPA first determines eligibility, then candidates are given invitations to join. The GPA eligibility for NSCS is generally a 3.4. However, Pomona has increased the requirement to a 3.67 in order to correspond with an 11.0, which is the requirement to be a Pomona College Scholar. It is then up to the student to fill out the application to NSCS.

The National Society of Collegiate Scholars was founded at George Washington University in 1994 as a not-for-profit organization. There are currently 148 chapters on campuses all across the country. NSCS is involved with numerous groupso n a national level, such as America’s Promise, the Campus Outreach Opportunity League (COOL), and LeaderShape. These ties give members of NSCS the ability to work closely with many of these groups on service projects.

NSCS was founded on the ideals of scholarship, leadership and service. Service is the most important part of the organization’s goals. Sarah Kempe-Mehl ’03, the Pomona chapter President, said that the importance of NSCS is, "taking students who have shown academic excellence and putting that energy, collectively, into service as well." Along these lines, Pomona’s NSCS has already begun to organize service projects, including Make A Difference Day on October 26 and 27.

Ellen Nickel, a new NSCS inductee, regards her participation seriously. "I decided to join NSCS because of the opportunities for community service and to learn about different careers and to learn about leadership skills. I think the ideals of the society are good and I especially think that we who tend to spend a lot of time studying can benefit from taking some time to think about how we can apply our skills in a positive way," she said.

The organization receives funds from the national office, so it is almost financially autonomous. The fact that this year it was denied funding from Pomona College makes it even more so. However, there were special circumstances this year that helped make NSCS’s opening on campus easier. Upon Dean Quinley’s request, Pomona College subsidized admissions fees for the new inductees. The College paid half of the $40 for each of the 58 new members. Once inducted into NSCS, one remains a member for life.