NSU’s College of Psychology recently created a Class of 2017 Commemorative Medallion for the college’s graduating students. Over 40 graduate and undergraduate students participated in the design process, according to the college.
The medallion was designed for students to have a keepsake post-graduation as a memory of NSU. Anyone can purchase the medallion, including current NSU students, parents and alumni. All proceeds go to student scholarship funds.
Carlos Perez, professor at the College of Psychology and one of the first to pick up the concept for the medallion, said it was created as an alumni gift. Every time a student, future alumni or staff donates, it helps build a tradition of raising money for student scholarships.
“We’re trying to build a new tradition for raising student scholarships and building more opportunities for students in the future,” Perez said.
Perez explained his vision was to build alumni relations, and by offering an opportunity to be philanthropic toward the end of their time at NSU, the graduating students would feel more inclined to participate with the school after they graduate and remain as active alumni.
The College of Psychology took on this new tradition as a test run, seeing if the concept could be utilized in other colleges across campus. They are the first college within NSU to implement this sort of medallion.
Karen Grosby, dean for the College of Psychology, said the college is looking forward to how the concept is received. Students gravitated toward the medallion idea for the fundraiser, and a lot of students were able to contribute to the production.
Grosby said, “You know how a good idea just bubbles up? We were talking about the graduating class and how they might be recognized at graduation with some recognition. The discussion started with the students. Carlos was the person that got out there, chatting with students, and it’s a great thing when students run with an idea.”
According to a release from the College of Psychology, a contest was held to pick the motto on the medallion. The winning submission came from Heidi Jameson, senior psychology major, who suggested “Semper Discentes,” or, ‘always learning.’ Later, “et Adservientes,” translated ‘and serving,’ was added by Glenn Scheyd, Jr., associate professor and chair of the department of psychology and neuroscience.
Grosby said, “This is what I would call a pilot. We were willing to support it, get it off the ground, see how it goes and we’ll go from there… We always like to partner with different groups or offices on campus, and in this case, it was with the Alumni Relations.”
For more information, students can contact Carlos Perez at perez@nova.edu. Students can look into the tax-deductible donations at nova.edu/givenow.
