Provost Aswani Volety delivered opening remarks that were followed by a keynote address by Elon President Emeritus Leo M. Lambert.聽Members of the 2020 and 2021 classes of inductees, who had previously been inducted in absentia due to the pandemic, were also invited to join this year’s in-person celebration.

Founded in 1897 at the University of Maine, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation鈥檚 oldest and largest multidisciplinary academic honor society whose mission is 鈥渢o recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others.鈥澛� Each year, chapters may invite the upper 7.5 percent of the junior class and upper 10 percent of the senior and graduate classes.

Since its founding, more than 1 million members have been initiated in the United States, Puerto Rico and the Philippines.

Elon鈥檚 chapter of Phi Kappa Phi was installed on Nov. 14., 1995, as Chapter 275. The first class of inductees included 79 students and three faculty members.

Alumni Inductees

Bryant Colson ’80

While at Elon, Bryant was the first black editor-in-chief of The Pendulum, the university’s student-run newspaper, and the first black SGA president. Colson opened the lines of communication for students to express their needs and concerns to university administrators. Since graduating from Elon, Colson has been active with alumni reunions and has been a leader in civic engagement in Hillsborough, N.C.

Meredith Citty Barger ’14

Barger has a lengthy family history with Elon. Her mother, father, and brother graduated from Elon. Teaching has been her passion and she has dedicated her career to helping students. Her class performed during the special College Coffee for Elon Day in 2020. Barger plans to continue her education in the master鈥檚 of higher education program at N.C. State University this fall.

Joleen Neighbours ’96

Neighbours has been a trailblazer in the fine arts community in eastern Virginia. She returned to her hometown after graduating from Elon and began her teaching career in various schools.聽 She is highly respected in her community and has been an outstanding advocate for students furthering their careers in fine arts. Neighbours is now the supervisor of fine and performing arts for the Suffolk Virginia Public Schools.

Annette Orbert ’90

Orbert began her career at Elon working as a secretary for the late Vice President Emerita Dr. Jo Watts Williams. Williams encouraged Orbert to enroll at Elon as a full-time student and complete her degree. Orbert worked in admissions and financial aid for several years, served as the director of multicultural admissions at Elon, and later became the college counselor at The Elon School. Countless numbers of students owe their careers to the sound advice Orbert gave them concerning their college choices. Annette later pursued her master鈥檚 degree from Wake Forest University and is now the executive director of nonprofit organizations for Alamance County Community Services.

2022 inductees

Faculty/Staff

Mark Kurt, Assistant Dean of Global Education and Professor of Economics

Kathy Matera, Professor of Chemistry and Chair of the Department of Chemistry

Mark Weaver, Assistant Professor of Statistics

Alexander Taylor, Senior Assistant Registrar for Technology and Communications

Graduate Students

Jordyn Chandler

Mary Corcoran

Caroline Davis

Jennifer Gehrin

Hannah Goodrum

Kaitlyn Hickman

Rynita Julien

McKayla Kraft

Doo Lee

Christina Marchand

Sarah Mason

Giavanna Papavero

Catherine Parsons

Charles Rizzo

Stephanie Schwartz

Durand Shoup

Alicia Tate

Max Wilson

Undergraduate Students

Sage Albert

Nick聽 Asprea

Morgan Bassett

Lilly Beaver

Adrienne Bevins

Jay Blue

Aiden Bradshaw

Zoie聽 Browder

Phoebe Carlton

Elizabeth Cerrito

Becca Chase

Nina Crocco

Abigail Diedrich

Caroline Digan

Caroline Durham

Alexandra聽 Elliott

Ally Everton

Matthias Ferring

Heath Foster

Lotte Fox

Melissa Freed

Kaitlyn Freeman

Julia聽 Friedenberg

Amaya Gaines

Will Gatchel

Madison George

Jordan Gower

Blake Healey

Blythe Hehmeyer

Anelisa Holder

Nana Kaneko

Kaley Katz

Kaitlin King

Jessica Kliman

Alexis Koppy

Stephanie Land

Moritz Lederer

Francesca Mautte

Katherine McCormick

Madi McDermott

Whitney McDonnell

Rylee McKinney

Katie Miyazaki

Matt Newberry

Danny Nickel

Maggie Noble

Corinne Orgettas

Fotini Pappas

Peyton Pesavento

Eva Pierce

Kassidy Puckett

Eden Ralph

Zoe Rein

Olivia Romano

Juliana Schiano

Sonali Schroder

Maria Scricco

Shannon Seignious

Lillian Shaw

Erin Shugar

Emma Simpson

Hunter Small

Chad Urquhart

Anna Vassallo

Stephanie Wagner

Nicole Waldron

Jordan Wels

Nora Wilkes

Lauren Willingham

Kate Wirth

Skye Ziegler

In an effort to encourage student enjoyment of mathematics and mathematics education, NCCTM recognizes outstanding mathematics education students at colleges and universities across the state. The winning students are invited to attend the State Mathematics Conference where they are recognized and receive their awards. 

This is the third year in a row that an Elon student has won the award.

Rogers is a dedicated student in mathematics and an enthusiastic advocate for the teaching profession. As part of Elon’s Teaching Fellows program, he has mentored high school students in Elon Academy, served as president of the Elon School of Education Ambassadors and the Elon Future Educators club. He is currently completing his practicum with Ryan Byrd at Eastern Alamance High School.

In addition to his work with education, Rogers is pursuing his interest in statistics.  He completed an undergraduate research project with Lecturer Ryne VanKrevelen using baseball sabermetrics to predict winning percentages and presented his research at SURF. 

His enthusiasm for education extends to his research as well. Rogers will be mentoring high school students in statistics research with Associate Professor Chad Awtrey as part of a Mathematics Association of America  grant awarded to the Elon’s Mathematics and Statistics Department.

In an effort to encourage student enjoyment of mathematics and mathematics education, NCCTM recognizes outstanding mathematics education students at colleges and universities across the state. The winning students are invited to attend the State Mathematics Conference in October where they are recognized and receive their awards.

As part of the Teaching Fellows program, Geyer has served over 100 hours observing and assisting in high school math classrooms. She participated in undergraduate research on the effects of serving as a teaching assistant on pedagogical content knowledge. Geyer also works in Elon’s Classroom Resource Center, which provides books and materials for candidates to use in their classrooms. 

Geyer has maintained a stellar academic record and is well regarded by faculty in the mathematics and statistics department where she was inducted into the 福利亚洲国产精品 chapter of Pi Mu Epsilon, the national mathematics honorary society. She has also completed many hours of volunteer work through her membership in Epsilon Sigma Alpha.

Cesarski is an 福利亚洲国产精品 Teaching Fellow and Noyce Scholar in secondary mathematics. In association with these scholarships, she has worked with students and mathematics educators in high need schools in the Alamance-Burlington School System. Cesarski has served as a student representative on many advisory committees at Elon including the teacher education committee and the mathematics education advisory board.

Cesarski has maintained a stellar academic record including minors in Spanish and coaching. She has also completed research in mathematics which she presented on the state and national levels.  Her academic work has been recognized through her induction into the 福利亚洲国产精品 chapter of Phi Beta Kappa and Pi Mu Epsilon, the national mathematics honorary society.