Feingold Letter Praises Adelphi Students, Faculty

March 11, 2014

Ron Feingold, Ph.D.

I recently attended the Eastern District conference of the AAHPERD in Rhode Island, as well as our New York State conference last fall, and I was very proud of our students who received state, regional and national awards. Adelphi University may have had the most state, regional and national award winners of any program in the state or country. So that we do not start to take these recognitions for granted, or worse to think that it is easy to receive these student awards, I thought it might be useful to point out the significance of these awards and the process for their determination.

Having retired in 2013 after 40 years at Adelphi, I myself questioned why Adelphi’s students have received so much recognition compared to other programs.

I have come to the conclusion that we have some great students who are committed to the profession and community.

It is the result of great faculty who are also committed to the profession and community and act as role models. The criteria for these awards include not only a high GPA, but also evidence of service and commitment to the profession and community. That’s what our department has been about, and what Adelphi has been about.

The selection process is extensive. At the state level, each program has the opportunity to nominate one male and one female student. In New York alone, we have strong programs at Adelphi, SUNY–Cortland, the College at Brockport and Ithaca College.

Approximately 20–24 students are nominated and one male and one female are selected as the Jay B. Nash Outstanding Major Award winner. In the Eastern Region, two students from New York State compete with students from other states including Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Vermont, New Hampshire, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Each state student award winner attends the EDA, goes through leadership training and is introduced at the culminating awards dinner; however, only one male and one female receives the top award, the Robert Pape Award, and those names are forwarded to the national committee. At the national level, each district recommends its male and female award winners to receive the national award, the Ruth Abernathy Presidential Scholarship. The Eastern District is one of six regions in the country to make nominations. Therefore, 12 students are nominated for the national award.

In the past 10–15 years, Adelphi may have had the most award winners of any other program in the country at the regional and the state levels. At the national level, this will be the third consecutive year that an Adelphi student—Peter Cody—will receive the Ruth Abernathy Scholarship. This year we also have the Robert Pape Award winner and, at the state level, the Jay B. Nash student award winner. We also have a student award winner from the Society for Public Health Education.

These are significant recognitions not only for the student, but also for the faculty and Adelphi University. While I was at the EDA awards dinner, each student from each state was recognized. Of course, the best of the best was from Adelphi. It really made me proud to be from Adelphi.

I hope we continue to give our students and faculty the recognition they deserve. As one may observe from the process, at the state, regional and national levels, this is a big deal, and I cannot think of any greater recognition to a university than to bring recognition to its students.

Congratulations to all students and faculty,

Ron Feingold