The ceremony took place on Wednesday, June 19 at Lander College for Women on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, and was the fifth induction for the chapter, which was chartered in 2009.  Professor Karen Sutton, chapter advisor, led the ceremony, presenting each student with a white rose.  History Department Chair Theodore Lauer welcomed the inductees, and Adjunct Professor Ira Weinstock gave the keynote address. Students each gave a short, extemporaneous speech reflecting on the honor they had received.  Several of the students’ parents and other department faculty also attended.

"This is an opportunity for all of the Touro campuses to come together and break bread. All of these students have excellent academic records, and we are here to celebrate their study of history," Sutton said.

The students installed from LCW were Chaya Bronner of Brooklyn; Shira Eisenman of Teaneck, New Jersey;  Samantha Michele Gursky of Far Rockaway; Sara Inzlicht of Brooklyn; Meital Mandelbaum of Teaneck, NJ; and Sarah Marcus of Toronto. LCM inductees were Alexsey Gorny of Brooklyn; Ari Kronen of Brooklyn; and Simon Shukhman of Staten Island. Students inducted from the LAS were Gittel Fekete and Florence Haut, both of Brooklyn, from the women's school and Pinchas Fink of Flushing from the men's school. Yoko-Ono McCullock of Laurelton, New York was inducted from NYSCAS.

Phi Alpha Theta was founded in 1921 by Professor Nels Cleven at the University of Arkansas.  The society has grown to include 860 local chapters that comprise more than 350,000 undergraduate students, graduate students and professors. 

“To be well-versed in history is to know where you came from,” said Sutton. “These students have earned this honor through hard their hard work, intellectual inquisitiveness, and academic excellence. We are truly proud of their achievement.”