blog.KON.org

Congratulations to Jill Jayne (Omicron Tau, Penn State). Jump with Jill programming has reached an audience of 100,000 kids. Her combination of nutrition and exercise and music is a great answer to childhood obesity. Check out Jill at http://www.kon.org/chapter_files/eligibility.html.

It is a pleasure to announce that Loren Marks, faculty member at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, is the recipient of the Kappa Omicron Nu National Alumni Research Grant. His research, "Families and Faith: A Qualitative Study of a Diverse U.S. Sample of Religious Families," will examine long-term marriages as well as the influence of religion. Congratulations, Loren.

The Centennial Planning Committee is hard at work planning the activities to honor the legacy of Omicron Nu. The honor society was founded in 1912 at Michigan Agricultural College, now Michigan State University. Faculty members were familiar with other honor societies, so Dean Maude Gilchrist and faculty decided to recognize home economics scholarship. The purposes of promoting scholarship, research, and leadership were the motivating factors behind its expansion to other campuses across the country.

On February 21, 1990 Kappa Omicron Nu was established by the consolidation of Kappa Omicron Phi and Omicron Nu. Following a successful three-year collaboration as an Administrative Merger, Kappa Omicron Nu was structured to realize the synergistic benefits of two strong organizations. Headquartered in East Lansing, Michigan, Kappa Omicron Nu is located close to the Michigan State University campus. Kappa Omicron Nu serves human sciences academic units on about 100 campuses.

The Centennial Committee is chaired by Linda Nelson (MSU), and committee members include Jenny Bond (MSU), Barbara Fraizier (WMU), Joy Jacobs (MSU), Janis Voege (CMU), and Dorothy Mitstifer, KON Executive Director.

Omicron Beta Zeta Chapter of Virginia Tech was recently awarded Kappa Omicron Nu Chapter Awards for two projects: "Collaborating & Networking" and "Social Responsibility." The former project collaborated with the Upward Bound/Talent Search program by conducting workshops on applying for scholarships, resume writing and professionalism and on dating violence, depression/anxiety, and body image. The latter project collaborated with the graduate school on campus to conduct a workshop for undergraduate students on understanding and applying the graduate school application process. Omicron Beta Zeta Chapter is to be commended for active leadership on campus.