Excellence Rewarded for Three College Students in England

By: Kirsty Watkins, Trans-European Division News

Newbold College of Higher Education, a Seventh-day Adventist-operated school in England, added another three students to the roll of the international business honour society, Sigma Beta Delta, at an on-campus ceremony on April 28.

Melinda Yatzy, Mikki Mathias Risager, and Brandon Melic (in absentia), final year students who are expected to graduate over the summer, were invited to join the society in recognition of the high academic standard and leadership they demonstrated throughout their undergraduate business studies at Newbold.

“It is a great honour to become a part of the Sigma Beta Delta society,” said Risager, who is completing the final examinations for his degree this week. “It is a mark of distinction, and a reward for all the hard work I have done.”

The Society was established in the United States in 1994 for exemplary students studying business, management and administration, “to encourage and recognize scholarship and accomplishment among students of business, management and administration, and to encourage and promote aspirations toward personal and professional improvement and a life distinguished by honourable service to humankind.”

“The fact that Sigma Beta Delta is an external and internationally recognized organization that focuses only on business students, adds recognition to our program,” said outgoing Chapter President and Newbold business lecturer J. C. Crissey. “It has helped to further what the School of Business strives to achieve in educating and nurturing students, not only for personal and academic achievement, but also for service to Christ and the wider community.”

Since its establishment in 2016, the Newbold Chapter—the only one at an Adventist-operated school outside the United States—has enhanced the culture within the School of Business by introducing a degree of healthy competition to the student experience, said the school officers. “Students aspire to achieve academically and are encouraged to contribute further within the Newbold church and college community.”

Päivikki Kuoppakangas, Interim Head of Newbold’s School of Business, who joined the College in September 2016, was also inducted into the Society. As a faculty member, Päivikki will serve as the Chapter Treasurer and Secretary for the remainder of the academic year, and will take over as president of the society chapter in the new academic year.

Besides its Business Studies, Newbold College offers undergraduate degrees in Biblical and Pastoral Studies, Religious Studies, and Liberal Arts, as well as graduate studies in Leadership, Ministry and Mission, and Theology.