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UVI students in every discipline reveled in praise as the 2000-2001 academic year came to a close. The St. Tho- mas and St. Croix chapters of the Golden Key International Honor Society held annual induction ceremonies in April, recognizing academically superior juniors and seniors in all fields of study at UVI. Athletes and aca- demic award-winners were recognized in separate award cer- emonies on both cam- puses during the month of May. At its April 22 ceremony, the Golden Key St. Thomas chapter inducted the following honorary members: Chancellor Roy Watlington, music Professor Austin Venzen and mathematics Professor Dr. Camille McKayle. Inducted into the St. Thomas chapter were: Cira Burke, Kenneth Cook, Evadney Herbert, Deonka Huggins, Roma Hyacinth, Martha Joseph, Johanna Marsham, Elisa Niles, Kerstin Petty, Erma Vanterpool, Denesha Wheatley, Taima Clarke, Karimah Cornelius, Gale Hobson, April Hurlston, Elena Jn. Baptiste, Jacqueline Leader, Nadia Monrose, Tamisha Ottley, Desiree Richardson and Asha Warner. The Golden Key St. Thomas chapter received an award for Best Membership Drive at the Regional Level at the Golden Key’s southeast regional meeting in Ft.Meyers, Florida in March. It is the chapter’s third regional award since being chartered in 1995. At the Golden Key St. Croix Chapter’s 7th Annual In- duction Ceremony on April 24, former UVI professor and Golden Key honorary member Valdemar Hill gave the key- note address and Dr. Lea Ann Lucas, a St.Croix psychology professor, was inducted as an honorary member. Inducted into the St. Croix chapter were: Prafal Agarwal, Brigette Bennerson, Ancelma Dupigny, Victoria Florent, Ed- ward Jose Garcia, Barbara Gentilucci, Catherine John, Jen- nifer Marriona, Ester Perez- Johnson, Olivia Riviere, Joycelyn Ryan, Wendy Wheeler and K’Anna Wong Shing. At the southeast regional meeting, the St. Croix chapter was awarded Best Membership Drive, Best Masquerade Cos- tume and earned a fifth place award for its contribution to- ward the regional community service project. Alicia Gayadeen, a senior English major on UVI’s St. Croix campus, ran a successful campaign for the elected of- fice of Golden Key Student Representative for the Southeast Region. Alicia, vice president of the St.Croix chap- ter of Golden Key, studied at Louisi- ana State Univer- sity in Baton Rouge as part of the National Stu- dent Exchange for the fall 2000 se- mester. At academic award ceremonies on each campus, out- standing students in each of the divisions were recognized for their extraordinary accomplishments. Specialized recog- nition was given in the form of music awards, chemistry and nursing faculty awards as well as the Barnett Frank Class Awards, which were given to students with the highest rank- ing GPAs in each class category. Athletes on both campuses were recognized during an Athletic Awards Banquet on Sunday, May 6 in the UVI Sports & Fitness Center. dateline:UVI The monthly newsletter of The University of the Virgin Islands May 31, 2001 vol. vii, number 4 Golden Key Inductees, Academic and Athletic Award Winners Recognized as 2000-2001 Academic Year Ends Asha Warner, left and Johanna Marsham, members of the St. Thomas chapter of Golden Key, each received Ford Motor Company scholarships. Golden Key St. Croix chapter Vice President Alicia Gayadeen was elected Student Representative for the Southeast Region. UVI Vice President for Student Life Dr. Ronald Harrigan presents Nialah Felix with an athletic award and St. Croix Campus Nurse Justa Thompson presents an academic award to Joanna Santana. dateline:UVI 2 John Brewer’s Bay St. Thomas, VI 00802 NNECTED TO UVI news, activities and accomplishments at . . . www.uvi.edu GET CONNECTED TO UVI news, activities and accomplishments at . .. www.uvi.edu UVI Receives $1.2 Million for Biomedical Research Training Dr. Ralph Isovitsch, Dr. Teresa Turner and Dr. Gwen-Marie Moolenaar have been instru- mental to the success of UVI’s MARC program. The University of the Virgin Islands has been awarded a prestigious five-year grant of $1,287,970 from the Minor- ity Access to Research Careers (MARC) Program of the Na- tional Institutes of Health (NIH). Funding will start June 1. As a result of the grant, UVI students in the fields of computer science, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, ma- rine biology, and biology will be trained in biomedical re- search. Talented junior and se- nior students will have tuition completely paid and will re- ceive a monthly stipend so that they don’t have to work and can concentrate on research. The program will also provide stu- dents opportunities to present their results at national scien- tific meetings. For the first time, sopho- mores and freshmen will be able to participate in MARC funded enrichment, seminars, tutoring, and peer mentoring. These activities are designed to increase the pool of qualified juniors and seniors for the MARC honors program. Dr. Velma Tyson, UVI mathematics professor, will coordinate the MARC Foundations program on St. Croix and Dr. Ralph Isovitsch, UVI chemistry professor, will coordinate the St. Thomas pro- gram. “The MARC grant proposal was truly a team effort,” noted UVI Marine Biology Professor and MARC Program Director Dr. Teresa Turner. Dr. Gwen-Marie Moolenaar, UVI vice president for institutional advancement, wrote the first MARC program grant proposal and directed the program until 2000, producing one of the most successful programs in the nation. When Dr. Moolenaar’s demands as vice president did not allow time for her to continue to direct the program, a group of UVI faculty became involved, including Dr. Isovitsch and Dr. Lynn Rosenthal, computer science professor and former chair of the science and mathematics division. Since 1992, the MARC program at UVI has been very important in the lives of the MARC trainees. Trainees have gone on to top Ph.D. programs at Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Michigan, Howard University, Indiana University, Louisiana State University, the University of Maryland and Rochester University. “By far my best experience at UVI was being offered an opportunity to do research through the MARC program,” said Triscia Wharton Hendrickson, who has gone on to a Ph.D. program at Emory University. The expanded MARC program will support more students in more majors than ever before. “This program will work synergistically with other UVI grant-funded, student-oriented programs such as the National Science Foundation’s HBCU-Undergraduate Program, the Health Careers Undergraduate Program (HCOP), the NASA Scholars, and the NIH Minority Biomedical Re- search Support Program to produce a critical mass of stu- dents doing research,” Dr. Turner said. dateline:UVI is a production of the UVI Public Relations Office. 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