|
|||||||
PI GAMMA MU CELEBRATES MERCER'S LEADERSHIPA decade ago, the Pi Gamma Mu social-science honor society was coping with a financial crisis, as its number of chapters and annual number of initiates were on the decline. The society was drowning in red ink and raiding its endowment fund to stay afloat. Enter Dr. Gordon E. Mercer, Western Carolina University's professor of political science and public affairs (now professor emeritus) and founding director of the Public Policy Institute. In Oct. 2005, Mercer advanced from the office of international first vice president to the office of international president of Pi Gamma Mu. Within weeks, he activated an aggressive program to solicit chapter-building cooperation from professors at colleges that did not have Pi Gamma Mu chapters. He created a new position, that of chapter-development officer, at the honor society's headquarters. The trend of declining numbers of chapters and initiates reversed direction. At the end of the 2009‑2010 fiscal year, the organization posted its first annual operating surplus in years. Pi Gamma Mu has now enjoyed three consecutive fiscal years of year-end surpluses. Mercer's efforts were celebrated at the latest meeting of Pi Gamma Mu's international Board of Trustees, which met in Memphis, Tenn., on Oct. 19‑20. A year after Mercer retired as the society's 13th international president, the society's board transferred $5000 from its checking account to its endowment fund‑‑something that had not occurred since the society lapsed into deficit spending years earlier‑‑in honor of Mercer. The board also decided that a scholarship for Pi Gamma Mu members entering graduate school will henceforth be known as the Gordon E. Mercer Scholarship. Pi Gamma Mu awards 10 scholarships annually. They are intended for the first or second year of graduate work in the areas of sociology, anthropology, political science, history, economics, international relations, public administration, criminal justice, law, social work, psychology, and human/cultural geography. The honor society originated at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kans., in 1924. The society has been headquartered in Winfield ever since. Western Carolina University's chapter of Pi Gamma Mu was founded in 1983. Dr. Mercer was the chapter's sponsor from 1983 until 2011. Barry D. Friedman
|
|||||||
|
|||||||
©2012 Pi Gamma Mu | |||||||
Pi Gamma Mu Home | Current Headlines | PDF Version | Newsletter Archives | Subscription Information | Contact Us |