Erin Copple has been inducted into Phi Society, Lambda Pi Eta communication honorary, Rho Lambda (Greek women's honorary) and Order of Omega (Greek honorary). She was named as a Dean's Distinguished Leadership Award winner, holds a Heritage Scholarship and has had her Young Scholar summer research paper accepted to three undergraduate communication conferences -- DePauw University, Western States and Southern States. She has served as a senior interviewer for the admissions office, on the June and August Orientation staffs and as a departmental fellow. Copple has served in several officer positions for her sorority, Alpha Chi Omega, including that of president. She also volunteers with the AIDS Task Force, Outlook and Diabetes Association committees of the Denison Community Association, performs with Ladies Night Out, an a cappella chorus, and worked in the theatre department's costume shop as a seamstress.

Presentation remarks:

"Erin, the sheer number and depth of your achievements in the space of a mere four years at Denison is proof of the physical principle that powerful forces can be compressed into a very small space. You have blazed across the Denison horizon, etching deep channels in the memory of those who have worked with you -- academically as well as in multiple areas of student service to the College. As a graduate of the Honors program, you have excelled in your Communication major, leading one of your professors to call you an 'excellent scholar whose work in media studies ... will become an important contribution to the field.' He adds: 'Ms. Copple is one of those rare students who makes faculty better than they were before encountering her. She demands this by simply doing the work at such a fine level that faculty are forced to tighten the slack in order to help her learn.' Your Young Scholar and honors work on reality television shows led to an invitation for you to present at a Gilpatrick Chowder Hour, the first student at Denison ever to receive that honor.

"Meanwhile, the many leadership and service hats you have worn have resulted in your receiving Denison's Distinguished Leadership Award. Among those hats are Staff Coordinator for June Orientation, regular staff of both June Orientation and August Orientation, Senior Interviewer for Admissions, frequent panelist for Admissions overnights, President and twice Vice President of Alpha Chi Omega, and energetic participant in Ladies Night Out, AIDS Task Force, and the Diabetes Association.

"Erin, when you first came to the College, you said that Denison gave you the opportunity to become a 'big fish in a small pond.' Having been accepted to the graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, you now have the opportunity to be a 'big fish in a big pond.'

"One thing is certain: We at Denison have always considered you a big catch, and we are grateful that you have graced us with your presence -- or is it omnipresence? -- over the past four years."