Iota Xi Chapter

Minutes
February 18, 2010

In attendance
Professor Nicole Stokes-Du Pass
Christopher Mauro
Joseph Eulo
Megan Andrade
Kristy Lopez
Diana P. Gonzalez
Sheila Casey
Lina Iddisah
Ibtissam A. Abdallah
David Reyes
Jared Spero
Skay Lakav
Erica Bragg
Joana Costa
Chris Haszko
Mana Braga
Daniel J.Delmo
Gloria Elizabeth Blanco
Nicole Salvato
Dan Marques
Lilia Cotruta
Kevin Wang

Chris Mauro started the meeting by highlighting that:

• We are part of something larger than ourselves (quote of the day)
• We not only had a blast at the masquerade ball that took place
on January 29 th, but we also made an impact on other people’s
lives.
• Dr. Signorelli’s wife, who has been a member of Phi Theta Kappa
for a number of years now, sent us a thank you card to express
 her gratitude to the chapter for honoring her late
husband,Professor Sigroreli.
1. Convention
The iota xi chapter proudly took home a number of awards:
• David Reyes won the “Distinguished Member Award”
• Diana P.Gonzalez took home the “Distinguished Officer Award”
• The Iota Xi chapter was able to beat all the other chapters of Phi
Theta Kappa at the regional convention and take home the
“Excellency Award”
• The “Award of Excellency” comes with money, which is used to
send one person to the International Honors Institute
Conference .
• From this conference, the chapter will be able to gather new
information, suggestions about future hallmarks.
• Prof. Stokes explained that the reason why we won the
“Excellency Award” was not only because we would have swept
all the other categories, but also because of the high skills of the
hallmark writers.
• She proceeded by thanking the hallmark committees who put a
lot of time and effort in writing these great hallmarks.
A five-Star Chapter:
• Iota Xi has been a five star chapter for 29 years.
• Every semester the chapter starts with “zero” star and earns all
five stars (the most a chapter can earn) by the end of the
semester.
The Pinnacle Award:
• The Pinnacle Award is an increase in membership by 10 percent
above what we accomplished last semester.
• The chapter won five Pinnacle Awards last Fall. These awards
were supposed to be implemented in the Spring of 2010.
 • Scholarships may be available from these Pinnacle awards.
However, due to limited funds, there may be an issue as to who
these scholarships should be awarded to.
• Interested candidates are suggested to submit an essay on why
they think they are deserving of these scholarships
2. Induction and Orientation
a. Orientation
• Our 1st orientation that took place last Tuesday went very well
• The 2nd one is to be held this Saturday from 12: 30PM to 1:30 PM
at room L-315
• Officers and mentors should make all efforts to attend the
orientation
b. Induction
• The Spring 2010 Induction Ceremony will be held on March
5th at 6:30pm
• Mentors and officers should be there at 5: 00 pm
• Help is needed for the set up
• Members who will not be able to help should try to tell
other members who would like to contribute an hour or two
of their time to help set up.
• The set up time is 4: 30 Pm and double-duty members
should be there at that time.
c. Luncheon

• The Spring Honor Luncheon will take place the next day of
the induction
• Officers must be there at 11 AM and members at 12 PM
• Officers can sign up to bring food( home-cooked or store-
bought) and refreshments to the luncheon
 • Dr. Philip Peppers from the history department will be
presenting the Spring 2010 Honors Topic : Demoralization
of Information: Power, Peril, and Promise
3. Book sale
• Every dollar we earn has the power of propelling ourselves
• The book sale is our primary source of funds. Therefore, we all
have to put in our efforts to contribute to this event.
• If this event is not successful, a lot of our programs will be cut
• The book sale will take place in the hallway of the Nomahegan
Building
• Instruction sheet will be available for new members
• More people are needed for the set up on Sunday at 7:30
am( coffee served) and closedown on Friday at 5pm.
4. Mentoring Workshop
• A mentoring session will be held on Saturday, February 27th from
10:30 am to 2:30 PM in room L-315.
• For the people who will not be able to attend, information will be
posted on the website so that they can have an idea before the
induction.
• Mentees who do not wish to be mentors can still come to the
workshop and give up their feedback
5. New Officers
• 4-5 new officer positions are currently open
• Can’t determine exact positions at the moment
• The two next meetings will provide more information and
packages.
• If you are a member who is willing to dedicate time to the
chapter, applications are to be accepted soon.
6. Important Notice:
 • Starting this March, the 1st Thursday of every month will
be dedicated to an “officers only” meeting.
• The other Thursdays will still be our general meetings
• Next meeting will be and ½ and ½ meeting
• The 1st half will be regular meeting and the other half will
be for officers only

7. Joe’s Announcement: International President

• Joseph Eulo, the former New Jersey State President of Phi Theta
Kappa, announced that he is running for the society’s
International President
• He asked for the chapter’s emotional and financial support
Concerns:
• Professor Stokes raised a concern about the financial
commitment that the chapter will have to undertake.
• She stressed on the fact that the chapter will be held accountable
if Joe, for some reason, decides to back down.
• Joe insured professor Stokes that even though the fear of not
winning is there, he is not planning to loose and will not let the
Iota Xi chapter down.
• He highlighted that the goal behind his running for International
President is to make a difference in the society.
• Diana raised an important question on how much money the
chapter currently holds and how dry Joe’s campaign will leave us.
• Joe proposed that we sell Gertrude Hawk candy bars for 30 days
to raise money for the campaign.
• Professor Stokes suggested we could also sell the Phi Theta
Kappa T-shirts and bags left in the inventory.
 • In the meantime, Prof. Stokes will meet with Dr. Smith, the
Academic Vice President of the school, to discuss how the school
can help in terms of funding.
Decision to support Joe:
• Prof. Stokes announced that we support Joseph Eulo in his
running for International President.
• 1/3 of our funds will be used to submit Joe’s application
• The campaign budget should take roughly $1,475
• Finance and budget will be discussed further on future meetings
Motion:
• Chris Mauro proposed motionned to accept Joe’s proposal and
set him on his way for the application process
• Sheila Casey seconded the motion
• All in favor : everyone
• Disagree : none
• Abstaining : none
• Chris announced that Joseph Eulo is now officially running for
International President .

Next Meeting:

Thursday, February 25, 2010 from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm in

the alumni conference room in the Nomahegan building.