Mu Kappa Inducts Twenty New Members, April 28, 2020

On Tuesday, April 28, 2020, the Department of Global Studies and Geography inducted 20 students into Mu Kappa, Hofstra University’s chapter of Gamma Theta Upsilon (GTU), the international geographic honor society. Through a virtual ceremony held over Zoom, the number of Mu Kappa members was increased to 158. Mu Kappa was founded in 2012 and has been the recipient of GTU’s Honors Chapter Award for the last five consecutive years.

Keynote speaker, Dr. Burrell Montz, Professor of Environmental Geography and Planning at East Carolina University, Interim Executive Secretary and past President of Gamma Theta Upsilon, offered a lively recount of her journey to the world of geography. Because of her passion for studying the intricate connections between humans and their physical surroundings she left high paying jobs as an environmental consultant and environmental planner, and embarked on her doctoral studies in Geography at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She decided to study the flood that had occurred in her home town three years prior, and this became the beginning of a long career dedicated to the study of natural hazards, water resources management and environmental impact analysis. Dr. Montz has advised many graduate students on these topics and she mentioned that she has enjoyed the opportunity to travel to many countries and all over the U.S. for research, conferences and talks. She has also been involved in several climate change related projects in North and South Carolina. She spoke passionately about the unique characteristics of the academic discipline of Geography, which entail such a diverse skill set that it can be successfully applied to a huge range of topics, such as the current COVID19 situation. She congratulated our initiates on their accomplishments and ensured them that they are entering an organization with very strong networking opportunities. Dr. Montz also mentioned the fact that two Mu Kappa members received scholarships for their Masters degrees (Jaclyn Catania ’14 and Thomas Vogel ‘16) and PhD degree (Thomas Vogel ‘16) in her department after having met her at Hofstra University where she gave a talk at our induction ceremony in 2014.

Sophia Hadeed '20 (Mu Kappa President), Adriana Galarza '20 (Vice President), Margaret Engel '21 (Historian), and Ligia Clara-Arenivar '19 (Secretary) led the ceremony to welcome the following new inductees: