PDF
By Sindhu Palaniappan
The Falcon Society is a group of students who have displayed excellence in their field of study and have also contributed substantially to the social and cultural activities of the University. Involvement in outside organizations extends beyond membership; these students are active and dedicated leaders who have made significant improvements and contribution to Bentley.
The current members of the Falcon Society, as voted in by past members, are Lacey Cumming, Nicole D’Achino, Ryan DeChance and Ryan O’Keeffe. Students need to be nominated by someone within the Bentley Community – faculty, staff or other students. Once nominated, students receive an application to complete, which requires documentation of all involvements at Bentley, as well as permission to release grades and judicial records.
Personal statements and letters of recommendation are optional supplements to the application (and since we’ve all done college applications, it doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch).
As outlined by the current four members of the group, decisions are based on these five criteria:
Leadership: The extent to which the person has demonstrated influence, and guidance to organizations, teams, etc. Points to be considered include responsibilities involved, how much the person is called upon by others, the variety of duties and so forth.
Contribution: In what ways has this person positively impacted the University community, including improvement of student life, creation of a new policy or program, revitalization of an organization, athletic advancement and academic advancement?
Diversity: How broadly has this person been involved (variety of their organizational commitments and interests)?
Continuity: Is this person consistently making contributions to the Bentley community?
Character: Is this person living up to the ideals set forth in the Bentley Beliefs?
Nominations are submitted from the middle of December up until early February. Once nominations are in, candidates are contacted and applications are due by the end of February. Decisions for members to be inducted are sent out by the middle of March. There is no interview process, mainly a paper application that is reviewed and discussed at length by the current members of the Falcon Society and Doreen Floyd, the faculty advisor for the group.
“The goal of the Falcon Society is to recognize student contributions to the Bentley community during their time at Bentley,” said Lacey Cumming. “The student-run society looks to honor students each year based on their contributions to all fields at Bentley including academics, athletics, social and cultural activities.”
This small and selective group currently holds positions in the Center for Women and Business, ABA, Admissions, CAB, Ambassadors, Greek Life, Acapella, AIA, SAAC, Service learning, APO and the field hockey team. Nominations will be opening up soon.
