At this year’s Department of Sociology Achievements Award Ceremony, 10 students were initiated into the AKD Sociology Honor Society and 12 students were recipients of Undergraduate Awards. This was also the first year that the lecture portion of the award ceremony was dedicated to Dr. Gene S. Uyeki (1926-2014), Professor of Sociology at Case Western Reserve University of 43 years. In his appreciation of the power of social forces, his quest for scientific understanding, his integrity as a person and as a consummate professional, he serves as a role model for us all. The Gene S. Uyeki Memorial Lecture featured former sociology graduate student and full-time lecturer, Karie Feldman in “From the back of the classroom to the front.” The event was followed by a luncheon.

This year’s Alpha Kappa Delta International Sociology Honor Society initiates were Luma AlMasarweh, Cameron Joseph Childers, Sarah Natale Jammal, Richard Ning Liang, Francesca, Rosa Marchiafava, Colette Lynne-Afou Ngana, Brittany Ruth Rabb, Mikalah Lauren Singer, Nikki Marie Warren, and Siyue Xu. The Schermerhorn Award for outstanding students in sociology went to Connor Collins, Verity Forsythe, and Jennifer Lowe. The Mark Lefton Award for Excellence in Sociological Studies was awarded to McCoy T. Edmonds, Mary Therese Escueta, Victoria Hamilton, Srinidhi Singuri, and Kevin Smith. The Stella Berkeley-Friedman Award to graduating seniors for the highest academic achievement in the study of sociology was awarded to Meghan Gibbons and Steven Reynolds. The Robert C. Davis Award for demonstrated commitment to sociological studies was awarded to Justine Bernacet and Rhee Duck Hyung. The James Dysart Magee Award to an outstanding senior student in Social and Behavioral Sciences was awarded to Kevin Smith.

MaryTherese Escueta won 2nd place in the student paper competition at the Northeast Ohio Undergraduate Sociology Symposium and 1^st place in the social sciences oral presentation at the CWRU Intersections: Research ShowCASE for her paper “I Do Wanna Dance”: The Lived Experiences of Professional Dancers of Color.” Gabriella Kaddu was awarded the Peter Witt Scholarship through the College of Arts and Sciences at CWRU. This highly selective honor recognizes both Gabriella’s academic excellence, and her extraordinary commitment to outreach with Cleveland area homeless individuals. Brittany Rabb has been accepted into the American Sociological Association (ASA) Honors Program. Participants of the Honors Program are selected for their exceptional academics and come together for four days from all over the country and the world to experience all facets of the upcoming 2017 ASA Annual Meeting in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.