Students inducted into OCC Honorary Society

For 75 of Pitt’s heavily involved students on campus, adding one more organization to their… For 75 of Pitt’s heavily involved students on campus, adding one more organization to their schedules didn’t seem like that much more of a stretch.

The Outside the Classroom Curriculum Honorary Society inducted its first undergraduate students for completing the requirements of the OCC Friday night in the Frick Fine Arts Building. Students who have completed the OCC requirements are eligible to be inducted into the society, which provides benefits to its members like exclusive meetings with potential employers.

The OCC Student Advisory Committee, composed of 12 students and a supervisor, Residence Life director and Associate Dean of Students Shawn Brooks, created the society to reward students for their involvement on campus. Each inductee received a certificate, pin and emerald green tie and scarf.

Pitt created the OCC program in 2008 as a way for students to keep track of activities they participate in while developing themselves in areas such as leadership, service to others and appreciation of the arts.

Students and administrators worked on revamping the program during the summer. A new board, called the OCC Student Advisory Committee, wanted to make the program more legitimate and accessible to students. One of the ideas they came up with was the OCC Honorary Society.

The OCC Honorary Society will offer benefits exclusive to its members, such as meetings with potential employers. Members will also receive the green cord at graduation, a carry-over from the past OCC program.

Student Government Board members James Landreneau and Emily Hoover served on the committee, which began meeting in April and has since held meetings once a week.

2012 Student Government Board member and OCC Student Advisory Committee member Gordon Louderback said, “I give credit to OCC for helping me to get involved.”

The junior is the president of Pittsburgh Association for Leadership and Success, a peer facilitator for Emerging Leaders and serves on SGB’s food and environmental committees.

Glyn Cozart, Landreneau, Hoover and the rest of the Student Advisory Committee led their fellow members into Frick’s auditorium for the induction. About 50 friends and family members showed up to support the inductees.

Ten candles with green ribbon wrapped around them lined a red curtained table on stage representing the goal areas of OCC that students accomplished in order to be inducted into the society.

The OCC program goal areas include: leadership development, career preparation, communication skills, global and cultural awareness, sense of self, service to others, Pitt pride, wellness, appreciation of the arts and initiative and drive.

When students complete all 10 goal areas, they will be inducted into the OCC Honorary Society, another new aspect to the OCC program.

At the induction, Brooks swore Glyn Cozart, a senior studying political science and philosophy, in as president. Britta Anderson was sworn in as vice president of programming, Mark Hennessy as vice president of membership, Hoover as business manager and Samantha Bertocchi as secretary.

Afterward, Brooks introduced Vice Provost and Dean of Students Kathy Humphrey, who praised the students for their hard work.

“I could not be happier to look out at you and see that you have invested in yourselves,” Humphrey said.

In order to complete the OCC requirements, each student had to be interviewed by Brooks. He then gave each of them the option of joining the Honorary Society. Landreneau and Hoover said that the large majority of students chose to join the society.

Kourtney Bernecker, a sophomore studying politics and philosophy, started completing the OCC requirements at her freshman orientation. Bernecker said that being involved as a First Year Mentor and in her sorority, Delta Phi Epsilon, and service fraternity, Epsilon Sigma Alpha, helped her to complete the OCC requirements.

“I didn’t even have to try,” she said, because she was already heavily involved on campus.

Bernecker felt that being in the society would continue to help her efforts to be employed after graduation.

“It does provide a lot of networking opportunities, and it’s a great resume-builder,” she said.

Cozart felt just as excited about leading the new committee. She addressed the audience after Humphrey praised the OCC.

“I’m honored that all of you are here, and I hope you’re as excited as I am [about the society],” she said.

At the end of her speech, naming all that the inductees had accomplished in order to show off green ties and scarves, she asked the students to rise as they pledged “to uphold the ideals of the OCC Honorary Society.”

The pledge reaffirmed the purpose of OCC, as the students simultaneously said, “I will seek by all honorable means to advance the interests of the University of Pittsburgh, of my community and the betterment of the world.”

Landreneau emphasized that OCC still has work to do.

“This is not a flawless program … but it’s absolutely a step in the right direction,” he said. “This is a program that’s not going anywhere.”