Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society welcomes new members

CAPTION: President Russell Kavalhuna (far left) and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Michael Nealon (far right) pose with the leadership team of the HFC chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. Members, from left to right: Laya Yousif, Elissar Asfahani, Holly Pizzini, Johnnie Upshaw III, Nour Rahal, Najwa Aboudaye, Reham Alkohaif, Alison Kitchkommie, and Ishraaq Atkins. Upshaw, a past president, is currently studying at Alma College. He returned to HFC to speak at the induction ceremony Nov. 16.

The Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society at HFC welcomed new members to its ranks at the Phi Theta Kappa induction ceremony Nov. 16.

HFC President Russell Kavalhuna; Dr. Michael Nealon, HFC vice president of Academic Affairs; Dr. Daniel Herbst, vice president of Student Affairs; and PTK advisor Dr. Laura Yeakel were present at this event in addition to the new inductees’ family and friends.

The PTK chapter at HFC was chartered in 1988 by Dr. Nabeel Abraham as Alpha Xi Mu. It has been under the guidance of Yeakel and Dr. Michael Daher since 2013.

PTK is the international honor society of two-year colleges and academic programs. The organization is headquartered in Jackson, MS and has more than 2 million members in more than 1,250 chapters across the United States and abroad.

It was established in 1910 as Kappa Phi Omicron, an honorary group chartered with six members at Stephens College, a two-year women’s college, in Columbia, MO. In 1918, students and college presidents of eight Missouri junior colleges for women united at Stephens College to organize under the name Phi Theta Kappa, modeling it after the prestigious senior college honor society Phi Beta Kappa.

“These young men and women are among the best and brightest of Henry Ford College,” said Kavalhuna. “I am proud of their accomplishments, and I am proud to be associated with them.”