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Chapter Report Form Submission

Chapter Name Mu Kappa

Chapter Address Department of Global Studies and Geography

209D Roosevelt Hall

130 Hofstra University Hempstead, NY 11549

Chapter Website or Social Media Address https://www.hofstra.edu/global-studies-geography/honor-society.html

Faculty Sponsor Kari Jensen

Faculty Sponsor initiated Pennsylvania State University, Alpha Tau Chapter, 2007.

President Co-Presidents: Kerrie Heeralall and Genevieve McCormick

Vice President -

Secretary Nicholas Lucchetto (Fall 2024)

Treasurer Dr. Kari Jensen

Historian Director of events: Dr. Craig Dalton

Highlights of Activities of 2024-2025 Academic Year (200-800 words):

Mu Kappa celebrated Geography Awareness Week, November 2024. In collaboration with the Department of Global Studies and Geography, the Women’s Studies Program, and the LGBTQ+ Studies Program, we hosted guest speaker Dr. Meghan Kelly, assistant professor in Geography and the Environment at Syracuse University with prior appointments at Dartmouth College and Durham University (UK). Dr. Kelly held a compelling lecture on Feminist Mapping as Spatial Storytelling and hosted a student workshop on Feminist Mapping and Icon Design. Initiation ceremony, University Club 4/21/2025: This year, six students and one faculty got inducted into Gamma Theta Upsilon at Hofstra University: Allison Alberti, Sophia Camacho, Ramiro Campos (Adjunct Professor of Geography), MeiLi Haan, Hafsa Munawer, Henry Musa, and Pallavi Singh. Unfortunately, Alberti, Haan, Munawer and Musa were not present at the ceremony, but we were joined by last year’s inductee J. Cameron Elwell who lined up with this year’s inductees to say the pledge, as he was not able to make it to the ceremony last year. This year’s induction ceremony was organized by the two co-presidents of Mu Kappa, Kerrie Heeralall and Genevieve McCormick, and faculty sponsor and treasurer Dr. Kari Jensen. Our own Assistant Professor of Geography, Dr. Ruth Trumble gave an excellent keynote speech; it was interesting and motivating to learn about her personal journey into the academic discipline of Geography and what Geography has meant in her life. After the initiation ceremony we had a delicious lunch sponsored by the HCLAS Dean’s ofﬁce and the Department of Geography and Global studies. (This is a link to the album on Flickr: https://ﬂic.kr/s/aHBqjCc3JB )

Additional Information to be Considered for Chapter Awards

Chapters that wish to be considered for the Honors Chapter Award or the Presidential Honors Chapter Award should indicate that they believe that they have satisﬁed each of the awards criteria and provide answers to the questions listed below. The Awards Committee will use these answers to judge whether or not the chapter has satisﬁed the criteria for a chapter honors award. The criteria for the awards can be found at http://gammathetaupsilon.org/chapter-awards.html

Honors Chapter Award

1) ✔ We satisﬁed the criteria for the induction of new members.

(Increase the number of new inductees over the previous year or induct at least 5 new members for programs that only award bachelor's degrees or 8 members for programs that award masters and doctoral degrees.)

a. How many new members did you induct this year? 7

b. How many new members did you induct last year? 12

c. Does your program award only bachelor's degrees or does it award masters or doctoral degrees?

Bachelor's degrees only: ✔ Masters or doctoral degrees: N

2) ✔ We provided leadership for two events designed to promote geography during the last academic year.

Please list the events and provide a brief description of how they promoted geography:

11/13: Mu Kappa celebrated Geography Awareness Week. In collaboration with the Department of Global Studies and Geography, the Women’s Studies Program, and the LGBTQ+ Studies Program, we hosted guest speaker Dr. Meghan Kelly, assistant professor in Geography and the Environment at Syracuse University with prior appointments at Dartmouth College and Durham University (UK). Dr. Kelly held a compelling lecture on Feminist Mapping as Spatial Storytelling. This event promoted geography by focusing on the importance of qualitative geography and how the understanding and sharing of research participants' stories can be greatly enhanced by using maps, whether the maps are generated by the researcher or drawn by the participants. 11/14/24: Dr. Meghan Kelly hosted a student workshop on Feminist Mapping and Icon Design. She was invited by Mu Kappa Director of events, Dr. Craig Dalton. His students attended, but the event was also open to other people. This event promoted geography by demonstrating how

mapping and icon design is important not only because of the close connection between maps and the academic discipline of geography, but also because it highlighted how certain research approaches, such as feminist critique, inﬂuences the map maker's decisions around design and symbols.

3) ✔ We have submitted a minimum of two posts this academic year to the Gamma Theta Upsilon International Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/GammaThetaUpsilonInternational/. (Summaries and photos of chapter news and activities are particularly welcome, but ﬁrst obtain permission of the GTU members described in the post and shown in the photo). The dates when we posted material on the GTU International Facebook posts are as follows:

I was not able to post anything on the GTU FB page, but I contacted Randy Bertolas, who on 06/10/2025 posted two posts for Mu Kappa: Post #1: Mu Kappa's celebration of Geography Awareness Week with Dr. Meghan Kelly's visit to Hofstra on Nov. 13 and 14, with photos from her workshop and a photo of the ﬂier. Post #2: Mu Kappa's initiation ceremony on April 21, where we inducted seven new members and had a lunch sponsored by the Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (HCLAS) and the Department of Geography and Global studies, with photos of the inductees and the other attendees, including keynote speaker Dr. Ruth Trumble.

4) ✔ The Faculty Sponsor is a veriﬁed member of GTU International Geographical Honor Society and was inducted into the chapter listed above.

4) ✔ We have submitted an annual report to the 2nd Vice President.

Presidential Honors Chapter Award

1) ✔ Complete the questions about the honors chapter award above.

2) N Our chapter planned and implemented at least one activity of any kind each month during the regular academic year.

Please list the activities:

3) N We hosted an event to which we invited GTU members who had already graduated from college or graduate school.

4) N Provide evidence of campus/community or national leadership to promote geography by indicating that you have satisﬁ ed at least two of the following criteria. Provide a short description of your activities as indicated.

N a. We provided leadership for at least six activities to promote geography during the academic year (including the two required for Honors Chapter status). Geography Awareness Week and other activities that raise awareness of geography to a public beyond the GTU chapter will be considered evidence of leadership in this area.

Please list the activities and brieﬂy describe how they promoted geography:

N b. GTU members made at least three visits to K-12 schools.

Please brieﬂy describe the visits:

N c. One or more chapter members submitted a student authored or coauthored article to the Geographical Bulletin.

Please provide the name of the author(s) or co-author(s) and the title of their article(s):

✔ d. One or more student chapter members presented a student authored (or co-authored) paper or poster at a regional or national AAG or NCGE meeting.

Please provide the names of student authors, the titles of their papers or posters, and the meeting they presented at:

Sophia Camacho: "Cultivating Change: Hollenback Garden's Inﬂuence on the Community Garden Movement.": MSDAAG, 11/01/2024. Nicholas Lucchetto: “Geographies of Weather, Buses, and the Commutes of New Yorkers in Queens." : MSDAAG, 11/01/2024. Genevieve McCormick: “Subdividing Historic Bergen County.”

MSDAAG, 11/01/2024.

N e. Our chapter participated in the GTU/AAG Visiting Geographical Scientist Program.

Invited: . - .

5) ✔ One or more of our chapter members applied for a national GTU scholarship (Buzzard Undergraduate Scholarship, Buzzard Graduate Scholarship, Maxﬁeld Scholarship, Richason Scholarship or Rechlin Scholarship). Please provide the name of the applicant(s) and scholarship(s) they applied for:

Nicholas Lucchetto has applied for the Maxﬁeld, Richason, Rechlin, and Buzzard Undergraduate Scholarships.

6) N Our chapter sponsored a new GTU chapter at a college (or community college) or university that doesn't have one or assisted an inactive chapter to reactivate. (Chapters should consult the chapter map on the GTU web site and contact their regional councilor or the GTU executive director for assistance in ﬁnding and sponsoring institutions that lack a chapter or that may be inactive.)

Please brieﬂy describe your sponsorship or assistance:

Sender’s name