This spring, two Saint Anselm College students and an alumna received scholarships for the 2022-23 academic year from Alpha Lambda Delta (ALD) for their involvement in the Saint Anselm ALD chapter and other campus and community service activities.
Alpha Lambda Delta offers three academic scholarships every year for its members: the Joe Anne J. Trow Scholarship, the Stemler Study Abroad Scholarship, and the Graduate Fellowship. For the first time, students in the Saint Anselm chapter received all three scholarships: Amani Clemons ’24, Andras Bencze ’25, and Emily Coderre ’21.
Students from across the country are invited to apply for these scholarships every year, but only 20-50 students are selected depending on the scholarship they applied for. The applicant pool is competitive, with students needing a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher and participation in campus and community service activities in order to be considered. This year marks the fourth year in a row that a student from the Saint Anselm College Chapter has been awarded a national scholarship.
Since the chapter’s installation at Saint Anselm in 2015, 12 national scholarship recipients have been chosen to receive more than $30,000 in scholarship money to support their educational goals.
According to Karlea Brunelle Ph.D., an associate dean of students at Saint Anselm, this success is a testament to how well the activities students are involved in on-campus align with the pillars of Alpha Lambda Delta:
“Students who received awards are/were active in the chapter and involved in activities aligned with the pillars of the honor society, which are academic engagement and helping others achieve success, service to the community, and leadership,” said Brunelle.
Amani Clemons: Recipient of the Trow Scholarship
Clemons ’24, a politics major with a minor in campaign management from Vernon, Conn., received the Joe Anne J. Trow Scholarship in the amount of $3,000 for the 2022-23 academic year.
Heavily involved on campus, Clemons serves on the communications committee for the Kevin B. Harrington Student Ambassador Program and works as a handler for the Institute’s Television studio. Outside of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics (NHIOP), Clemons is a team leader for the Transitions Program, a pre-orientation program designed to help incoming first-year students adjust to college life. She also serves as a Student Representative for the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Action Plan Committee.
In addition, Clemons was one of seven students nationally accepted for a paid internship with Alpha Lambda Delta in the area of marketing and communications for the 2021-2022 academic year. As a result, one of her projects to create an online resource for chapters of programming and recruiting ideas and events, will be accessible to over 279 chapters throughout the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates.
“It has been an honor to receive this scholarship and I am grateful for those who have contributed to my successful application,” said Clemons.
Alpha Lambda Delta selects only 50 students across the country per year to receive this fellowship and is designed to help students offset the cost of their college tuition. To be considered for this scholarship, a student must have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher and participate in ALD activities as well as campus and community service activities.
Andras Bencze: Recipient of the Stemler Study Abroad Scholarship
Bencze ’25, a biochemistry and German studies double major from Nashua, N.H., received the Stemler Study Abroad Scholarship in the amount of $1,000 for the summer of 2022 for his time abroad in Lüneburg, Germany.
Bencze is a member of the Saint Anselm Club Ultimate Frisbee Team, the Saint Anselm Chemistry club, and is a peer tutor for biology and German courses through the Academic Resource Center (ARC). He will also serve as a co-chair on the academic engagement committee for Alpha Lambda Delta next year.
Bencze is currently living with three other German students in an apartment in Lüneburg, Germany for the summer, where he is taking an advanced German course at Leuphana University. He joined an ultimate frisbee club in Lüneburg and hopes to share some of the skills he has learned with his Saint Anselm Team when he returns in the fall.
“The experience so far has been great,” said Bencze. “Every day I reinforce the German I already know as well as learn new words and phrases, all of which I am very excited to share as a German peer tutor at Saint Anselm.”
Alpha Lambda Delta selects only 20 students across the country per year to receive this fellowship. To be considered, students must have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher and participate in ALD activities as well as campus and community service activities.
Emily Coderre: Recipient of the Graduate Fellowship
Emily Coderre ’21 is a Saint Anselm alum from Waterford, Conn., who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts double major in social work and peace and justice studies. She received the graduate fellowship in the amount of $2,000 for her second year pursuing a Master of Social Work at Fordham University from Alpha Lambda Delta.
During her time at Saint Anselm, Coderre was heavily involved with Alpha Lambda Delta and the Meelia Center for Community Engagement. She was the service committee chair for Alpha Lambda Delta for three years, was a coordinator at the Meelia Center, a big sister through Big Brother Big Sister, and was the president of the social justice club. She also studied abroad in Cape Town, South Africa.
In her time thus far at Fordham, she interned at the Department of Health in Brooklyn and is currently interning for the Department of Education in the Bronx.
Alpha Lambda Delta is a national honor society that recognizes students’ academic success during their first year at college or university. Alpha Lambda Delta considers memberships for undergraduates with an academic ranking in the top 20% of their class, and who maintained a grade point average of 3.5 or higher during their first term or first year of study. Candidates must also demonstrate dedication to intellectual activity and service to their community.