On Saturday, May 6, Central Methodist University held an initiation banquet for 23 of its highest-achieving seniors from the 2016-17 academic year.
Only students in the top 10 percent of their senior class are invited to become members of Sigma Epsilon Pi – a society that was founded at CMU in 1932. In 1947, it was organized as a local equivalent of the international honor society Phi Beta Kappa, with similar membership requirements.
Alumni of Sigma Epsilon Pi include some of the university’s most distinguished graduates who have gone on to make significant contributions in a variety of disciplines. All of this year’s inductees had cumulative grade point averages of 3.85 or more on CMU’s 4.0 grading scale, according to Sigma Epsilon Pi advisor John Flanders, professor of business and economics.
The 2017 Sigma Epsilon Pi honorees, some of whom graduated in December 2016, included Megan Bremer, an athletic training major from Clinton; Paula Fortune, a nursing major from Sedalia; Danielle Franklin, an English major from Oak Grove; Kaitlyn Gebhardt, an interdisciplinary studies major from Columbia;
Jamie Gisburne, a communication studies and computer science double major from Fort Myers, Fla.; Katelyn Hanvey, a music education major from Centralia; Mackenzie Hustead, an English major from Edina; Shelby Joseph, a psychology and business double major from Cairo;
Lauren Kramm, an accounting major from Glasgow; Madison Lester, a business major from Boonville; Ryan Lewis, a music education major from Kaiser; Ashley Litton, a chemistry major from Lee’s Summit; Jennifer Long, a biology major from Cave Creek, Ariz.; Lyndsey Phillips, an education major from Columbia;
Adrian Portillo Garcia, a mathematics major from Madrid, Spain; Breilly Roy, a marine biology major from Trenton; Leah Scheer, a psychology and criminal justice double major from Washington; Rebecca Steele-Mackey, a mathematics major from Wasilla, Alaska;
Kelsey Swearngin, a psychology and sociology double major from Oak Grove; Emily Van Beek, a business major from Fayette; Meredith Van Maanen, a nursing major from Centralia; Haley Willis, a biology major from Republic; and Hannah Willis, a biology major from Republic.
