News Releases

TCC WINS 2 NATIONAL AWARDS AT PHI THETA KAPPA CONVENTION
Chesapeake and Norfolk chapters win regionally

HAMPTON ROADS, Va. – (April 15, 2004) – The Alpha Zeta Lambda Chapter of Tidewater Community College Phi Theta Kappa at Chesapeake, competing with 500 chapters, received two Hallmark Awards at the 2004 Phi Theta Kappa International Convention in Minneapolis, Minn., April 1-3. The international two-year college honor society awarded the TCC chapter:

~ Distinguished Chapter President Award - Valerie Spoolman, student
~ Paragon Award For New Advisors - Martha Bagby, TCC English instructor and volunteer advisor

This year, nearly 500 chapters competed for the Society’s most coveted awards. The Hallmark Awards Program is the society’s capstone awards competition annually recognizing excellence in programs that promote the Phi Theta Kappa Hallmarks of Scholarship, Leadership, Service and Fellowship. Exceptional Members, officers, advisors, college administrators and chapters are recognized annually at the Phi Theta Kappa International Convention for their achievements.

Regionally, the TCC Chesapeake Alpha Zeta Lambda Chapter also won awards at the March 6 convention:

~ Distinguished Chapter
~ Service Hallmark
~ Fellowship Hallmark

The TCC Norfolk Beta Zeta Upsilon Chapter won two awards regionally:

~ Best Fund-Raising Project
~ Most Improved Chapter

Phi Theta Kappa, the International Honor Society of the Two-Year College, has recognized academic excellence in the two-year college since 1918. The Society is comprised of more than 1,200 chapters at community, technical and junior colleges in all 50 states, Canada, Germany and U.S. territories abroad, making it the largest and most prestigious honor society serving two-year colleges. Membership is based primarily upon academic achievement. The organization offers a myriad of opportunities for scholarships, intellectual enrichment and personal development through programs based on the society’s hallmarks.

Tidewater Community College is the second largest of the 23 community colleges in the Commonwealth of Virginia, enrolling more than 34,000 students annually. The 37 th largest in the nation’s 1,600 community-college network, TCC ranks among the 50 fastest-growing large community colleges.   Founded in 1958 as a part of the Virginia Community College System, the college serves the South Hampton Roads region with campuses in Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach as well as the TCC Jeanne and George Roper Performing Arts Center in the theater district in downtown Norfolk, the Visual Arts Center in Olde Towne Portsmouth and a regional Advanced Technology Center in Virginia Beach. Forty-three percent of the region’s residents attending a college or university in Virginia last fall were enrolled at TCC.