The Hope College Chemistry Club has received "Honorable Mention" recognition from the American Chemical Society (ACS) for activities during the 1999-2000 academic year.

The ACS presented "Outstanding," "Commendable" or
"Honorable Mention" recognition to 160 of its Student
Affiliates chapters nationwide based on annual reports
submitted by the chapters. Hope's chapter was one of 69 to
receive "Honorable Mention," the second year in the row that
the group has received the honor.

The award-winning chapters will be recognized
during the 221st ACS National Meeting in San Diego, Calif.,
on Sunday, April 21, 2001. The chapters will also be named
in a forthcoming issue of "Chemical & Engineering News," the
society's official news magazine, and in "Chemistry," the
Student Affiliates magazine.

The Hope chapter organizes social and professional
activities for the college's chemistry majors, and engages
in outreach activities geared primarily toward area
children. Events for Hope students have ranged from a
picnic at the beginning of the year to panels featuring
alumni with careers in chemistry. Outreach activities
include serving as mentors during the "Little Chemistry
Club" program, through which elementary-age students engage
in laboratory exercises on campus during the school year.
Earlier this semester, the club also sponsored
demonstrations at Westshore Mall during "National Chemistry
Week."

The chapter has been advised for the past three
years by Dr. Matthew Elrod, who is an assistant professor of
chemistry and a Towsley Research Scholar at Hope. The
group's activities are planned primarily by the
organization's officers, with as many as 50 students
attending some events.

The student co-presidents during the 1999-2000
school year were Melissa Feenstra, a 2000 graduate currently
attending graduate school in chemistry at the University of
Wisconsin at Madison, and Katie Horsman, a 2000 graduate
currently attending graduate school in chemistry at the
University of Illinois at Chicago.

The ACS has 161,000 members in industry and
education. The society's activities include promoting
public understanding of chemistry through outreach programs,
fostering communication between chemists and related
organizations, and assisting in the professional and career
development of chemists.

The society's interests include the
preprofessional development of students in the chemical
sciences. Its Student Affiliates program has more than
8,000 students enrolled, many affiliated with more than 900
chapters at colleges and universities in the United States
and Puerto Rico.