President Kent Chabotar hosted a reception at Ragsdale house on Feb. 4 to celebrate the achievements of first-year, transfer, and early college students who made the dean’s list this fall.
Faculty, staff, and students were treated to catered hors d’oeuvres at the 5 p.m. reception, and each dean’s list scholar received a small Wedgwood plate as a gift.
The celebration was a group effort led by the First-Year Center, the Office of Campus Life, and the First-Year Advisory Board.
“This event evolved out of the First-Year Advisory Board’s suggestions,” said first-year program director Shelley Crisp. “Last year the celebration for dean’s list students was open to the entire campus, but very few first-years attended. Just surviving your first semester can be so daunting that we decided to have a separate celebration this year as an individual honor for first-year and transferring students.”
The reception drew over one hundred attendees, around 75 of them dean’s list members, making the event one of the largest celebrations of cerebral success Guilford will see this year.
“Colleges do a great job of showing up at athletic and social events,” Chabotar said. “It’s really awesome that we can also have an event that accentuates academics, which is why we are all here.”
Many first-years appreciated the recognition of their academic achievements.
“I think it’s a really nice gesture to honor first-years, especially because their vision of what they want to do and where they want to go can be so clouded by other distractions,” first-year Marya Millard said. “It is nice to have someone rooting for you.”
Early college students likewise appreciated the encouragement and the sense of inclusion being invited to the reception gave them.
“I don’t feel like I was invited as an early college student,” said high school senior David Boy. “I feel that I was invited as a Guilford College student. I think it is great that students who do well are recognized.”
Transfer student Rob Burman shared Boy’s feeling of acceptance.
“[Being invited] makes me feel like a part of the Guilford Community,” Burman said.
As the reception neared its end and the supply of mini-quiche dwindled, students expressed gratitude toward the professors who helped them achieve academic success by engaging in a moment of silence.
“I would like to say thank you to the faculty for acknowledging the students who go the extra mile,” first-year Dana Dimaio said. “Even though there is a little voice inside that keeps you motivated, it is still nice to have your actions reaffirmed.”
Interim Academic Dean Adrienne Israel congratulated the group of students and offered them parting words of encouragement.
“I urge you to fight against the tide of mediocrity that you are bound to encounter,” Israel said. “Don’t be dragged down by the tide of people who settle with just being so-so.”