By: Daniel Schryer and Haylie Berkland
On Tuesday, May 12, North Central College celebrated the 49th annual Rall Symposium, otherwise known as Honors Day, in Wentz Hall. The event spanned multiple buildings and lasted from 8 A.M. to 6:30 P.M.
The Rall Symposium opened with keynote speaker Dr. David Pritchard discussing effective forms of education in a college classroom environment. Dr. Pritchard, professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, received his Ph.D. from Harvard and his B.S. from the California Institute of Technology.
Dr. Pritchard and his son are the creators of MyPhysics Lab, an online class resource that has become a mainstay of the science classes here at North Central. In his lecture, Dr. Pritchard explored other forms of teaching that could maximize learning while decreasing extraneous effort and cheating in the classroom.
Following the keynote speech, over 100 students presented their research findings in poster form across the Wentz main hall. Topics from a wide variety of academic fields and disciplines were exhibited, with titles such as “Framing Poverty: The Impact of Study Abroad on Student Attitudes Toward Poverty” by Marissa Hollaway, ’15, and “The Depiction of Native American Stereotypes in Museums: A Comparison Between Non-Tribally Run Museums and Tribally Run Museums” by Tiffany Tindell, ’15. The student researchers were present to introduce others to their study topic and answer any questions attendees may have had. Food and drinks were also served.
For the third part of Honors Day, approximately 75 North Central students participated in oral presentations in Goldspohn Hall and Harold and Eva White Activities Center from 10:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
The presentations covered every academic area, ranging from music and theater presentations, to world history lessons, to sports injury prevention. With three to five student presenters per room, the students spoke for roughly ten minutes, with a brief time for questions between presentations.
After this, students, faculty and staff gathered back in Wentz Hall for the 39th Annual Honors Convocation, where more than 50 North Central students received outstanding awards for their academic and extracurricular achievements.
To begin, North Central professors filed into Wentz, adorned in caps and gowns. Following this, President Hammond then gave a brief speech, welcoming everyone and kicking off the ceremony.
Afterwards, Dean Pandian stepped up to the podium to say a few words to the graduating seniors.
“I know it’s not the time to give speeches, but I save this to say,” Pandian began. “I hope your academic journey will not end with a degree form North Central College, but rather continue to graduate work and beyond.” Pandian continued with these words of encouragement: “You have the potential, you have the courage, and you can do it.”
After this, the awards began, starting with the education awards, continuing on through every major, and ending with the Outstanding Senior Man and Woman Awards, presented to Jonathon Kingzette and Heidi Nelson.
During the presentation of the awards, each student took to the front of the stage with their professors or advisors, who spoke to the students’ achievements and experiences during their time at North Central.
This event then ended with closing remarks from President Hammond and a singing of the Alma Mater.
