BUIES CREEK – Kenneth Ferrell, a junior at Campbell University, has had a stressful and busy week full of due dates for class assignments. He needed a little reminder that he could not only get through the week but also produce quality work during it. He got it Thursday night when he and 27 other students in Campbell’s Lundy-Fetterman School of Business became the school’s first group of students to be inducted into Delta Mu Delta, an international honor society in business administration.
“This evening lifted me up a little bit,” said Ferrell, a Trust & Wealth Management and pre-law major from Fayetteville. “It was a great opportunity to be reminded of the importance of effort, and it provided a little motivation to keep at it. . . . This will be a pretty memorable night.”
The Lundy-Fetterman School of Business became eligible to establish a Delta Mu Delta chapter after it received its accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs in May 2012. Sara Adams, a regional representative with Delta Mu Delta, attended the induction ceremony Thursday to officially install Campbell’s new chapter, which will be called Mu Nu, and to welcome the newest students to the organization.
Membership in Delta Mu Delta, which has nearly 300 chapters around the world, is the highest honor that business students can earn that recognizes their scholastic achievement. Criteria for membership include business students who are juniors and in the top 10 percent of their class, seniors in the top 20 percent of their class, and graduate students in the top 10 percent of their class.
Benjamin Hawkins, dean of the business school, compared induction into the organization to winning the Heisman Trophy, which is awarded each year to the best college football player. The difference is that the Heisman goes to only one person, Hawkins said, while membership in Delta Mu Delta goes to “all the best and brightest business students.”
Among them was Cheryl Reynolds, a senior in accounting who started college later in life. “I have worked really hard. At times, I have forgone a social life in order to study,” said Reynolds, who plans to pursue a master’s in accounting after graduating from Campbell in May 2013. “[Induction] into the honor society is recognition for that hard work.”
Her mother, Virginia Whitaker, added: “She has waited a long time for this.”
During the ceremony, which was held in Marshbanks Dining Hall’s Alumni Banquet Room, each of the 28 students received a certificate and a Delta Mu Delta key marking their induction. Each of them also introduced themselves to those in attendance — which included faculty members and parents, siblings and other invited guests of inductees — and they shared what had been their most memorable experience at Campbell so far. The responses ranged from the one-on-one attention they’ve received from faculty and the relationships they’ve built with other students to the internship experiences they’ve gained and the mentoring programs they’ve been a part of.
“I am so proud,” said Sally Heath, the mother of two of the inductees — Jordan, a graduate student in accounting, and Anna Kate, a senior in business administration. “One is trying to get into law school; and one is trying to get a job. So we’re thrilled about the honor and the recognition for their hard work.”
Student inductees
Below is the list of the names, hometowns and majors of the students who were inducted into Delta Mu Delta honor society Thursday night.
Juniors
Danielle Adams
Princeton
Accounting
Candace Altman
Dunn
Accounting
Danielle Barnes
Scotland Neck
Trust & Wealth Management, Pre-law
Emily Bratton
Roanoke
Trust & Wealth Management
Kenneth Ferrell
Fayetteville
Trust & Wealth Management; Pre-law
James Fox
Burlington
Trust & Wealth Management
Kyle Frizzelle
Sanford
Trust & Wealth Management, Pre-law
Michael Gothard
Elizabeth City
Trust & Wealth Management
Andrew Hall
Springdale, Arkansas
Trust & Wealth Management, Pre-law
Erin Schultze
Smithfield
Business administration
Jessica Tharpe
Keymar, Md.
Accounting
Dylan Williams
Waxhaw
Trust & Wealth Management
Seniors
Patrick Carter
Durham
PGA golf management
Anna Kate Heath
Kenansville
Business Administration
Crystal Hoegen
Hillsboro, N.H.
Accounting
Frank Jennings IV
Elizabeth City
Trust & Wealth Management
Catherine Lee
Four Oaks
Accounting
Kennethe McMillan
Lillington
Business Administration
Brendan McNamara
Lillington
Trust & Wealth Management
Cecilia “Cissy” Nitz
Greensboro
Business Administration 3+2 program
Cheryl Reynolds
Cameron
Accounting
Benjamin Severin
Elizabeth City
Business Administration
Brittany Strother
Henderson
Business Administration
Kaitlyn Tunstall
Mount Airy
Accounting
Kristy Voss
Willow Springs
Accounting
Graduate students
Branden Burt
Greenville
Trust & Wealth Management/MBA 3+2 program
Jordan Heath
Kenansville
Accounting
Blain Pearson
Hickory
Trust & Wealth Management/MBA 3+2 program
Photo caption: The business students who were inducted into the Delta Mu Delta honor society Thursday night.
Article by Cherry Crayton, digital content coordinator