Hudson County Community College Administrator and Professor Receive Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society Awards
April 8, 2022
April 8, 2022, Jersey City, NJ – Hudson County Community College (HCCC) announced that two members of the HCCC family were recognized with awards from Phi Theta Kappa (PTK), the premier international honor society.
Professor Theodore Lai is the recipient of the PTK 2022 Continued Excellence Award for Advisors. Veronica Gerosimo, the College’s Assistant Dean of Student Life and Leadership, is one of just 28 individuals to receive the PTK 2022 Distinguished College Administrator Award. Professor Lai and Ms. Gerosimo were recently honored at the 2022 PTK Middle States Regional Convention in Galloway, NJ. They will be formally recognized at the Society’s annual convention in Denver, Colorado, April 7 to 9.
Hudson County Community College (HCCC) Professor Theodore Lai has been presented with the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) 2022 Continued Excellence Award for Advisors; and HCCC Assistant Dean of Student Life and Leadership, Veronica Gerosimo, is the recipient of the PTK 2022 Distinguished College Administrator Award.
“I know I speak on behalf of the entire HCCC family in congratulating Professor Lai and Dean Gerosimo on these well-deserved honors,” said HCCC President Dr. Christopher M. Reber. “Their commitment to helping our students achieve their academic dreams, and to providing students with opportunities to progress from being student leaders to community leaders is exemplary and inspirational.”
The Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society was established in 1918 to recognize high-achieving students at associate-degree-granting colleges, and help them reach their full potential. PTK provides members with opportunities to develop professional and leadership skills, earn scholarships, explore career paths, and improve communities. Today the honor society has more than 3.8 million members at nearly 1,300 chapters in 11 countries.
The HCCC Beta Alpha Phi chapter of PTK has earned the distinction of Five Star Chapter Status, the Society’s highest level of recognition. The PTK chapter plan offers five levels of engagement, with each level consisting of prescribed activities to build a strong, active chapter. To be eligible for Beta Alpha Phi membership, students must have completed at least 12 hours of coursework toward a college degree or at least six hours of coursework toward a one-year certificate, and maintain a cumulative 3.5 grade point average (GPA).
HCCC PTK members dedicate their time and talents to a variety of community projects including environmental cleanups at Liberty State Park and other locations; mentoring incarcerated students; spearheading blood and bone marrow donation drives; participating in Bike MS and Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walks; volunteering in food pantry and homeless projects; and much more.
HCCC students and leaders have been the recipients of many PTK honors.
- Each year, Beta Alpha Phi students are named to the PTK New Jersey All-State Academic Team.
- For the past several years, Beta Alpha Phi members have been named to the prestigious
PTK
All-USA Academic Team of high-achieving students, and have been awarded scholarships. - In 2020, HCCC alumnus Abderahim Salhi was one of just 15 recipients of the PTK Guistwhite Scholarship.
- HCCC 2021 Valedictorian Pedro Moranchel, now a Princeton student, received the 2021 Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship that covers tuition, living expenses, books and required fees up to $40,000 a year for three years.
- HCCC 2021 grad Adoum Allamine was also a recipient of the 2021 Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship; he is now attending Columbia University.
- Dr. Reber was also recognized with the PTK “Paragon President” award in 2020.