Prof iles
Greeks earn national accolades
Two Pitt State Greek organizations received top honors in 2012. The Eta Eta Chapter of Alpha Sigma Alpha earned the Crown of Excellence Award, which is the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a chapter. This marked the first time that the Eta Eta Chapter had won the award in its 92-year history. The Crown of Excellence Award was established in conjunction with the Four-Star Chapter Award to recognize the chapter achieving the highest percentage of requirements toward the Four-Star Chapter Award. The Four-Star Chapter Award was established in 1985 to recognize annually Alpha Sigma Alpha’s collegiate chapters that uphold the high ideals of the sorority in the areas of membership, academic excellence, finances, membership education, chapter operations, philanthropy, national meetings, ritual, organization image, national bylaws, policies and procedures, advisory board and alumnae involvement. “Eta Eta is extremely proud and honored to receive this award,” Julia Sammur, chapter president, said. “It was our time to win the award. It was earned by the fantastic leadership and devoted membership of the women who make up Eta Eta Chapter.” The Zeta Iota Chapter of Sigma Chi Fraternity earned the Peterson Significant Chapter Award, which is given based on criteria including financial stability, recruitment, chapter and member reputation, and ritual and initiation performance. It was the highest honor a chapter can receive. “This was a huge honor for our chapter because of where we had come from in the past few years,” Tom Roudebush, chapter president, said. “We had not won a Peterson (award) in nearly 15 years prior to our 2011-2012 award.” The Zeta Iota Chapter was featured in the Winter 2012 issue of the national Sigma Chi magazine. •
University family remembers Judith Shaw When word was received of Judith Shaw’s death on Dec. 25, 2012, Pittsburg State University’s Facebook page lit up. The long-time history professor’s former students recalled how much they enjoyed her classes, how impressed they were with her knowledge and how well she told stories. Most comments were similar to this, from former student Ron Rice: “I have great memories of her classes,” Rice wrote. “I loved how she would come into the room, set her purse and coffee down and then sit on the desk and just start talking. I will miss her, and will try to pass on her style of teaching with my own as I teach in Alaska.” Cathleen Garrison, remembered that Shaw almost never read from prepared notes. “From Cleopatra to the British Empire, she told us her stories and we listened like children hearing a great bedtime story,” Garrison wrote. Shaw joined the PSU faculty in 1959 and over the next half century developed a reputation both as an expert in her field and as a master storyteller. Her area of research included British and French history, local history and women’s history in the 19th and 20th centuries. A graduate of Western Kentucky State University, Shaw earned a master’s degree from the University of Kentucky and studied at the Sorbonne in Paris as a Fulbright Scholar. In 2009, at a ceremony honoring her for 50 years of service to PSU, colleague John Daley estimated Shaw had taught more than 10,000 students. “Some of our current students have grandparents who took courses from Judy and still ask after her,” Daley said. In February, friends, colleagues, former students and family attended a memorial for Judith Shaw in McCray Hall. • Shaw joined the PSU faculty in 1959. It is estimated that she had taught more than 10,000 students. Shaw died on Dec. 25, 2012. SPRING 2013 25