A Bowling Green State University faculty member, one administrator and 28 students,
including six from Wood County were inducted into the university’s Circle of
Omicron Delta Kappa this morning.
The initiation ceremony took place in Prout Chapel. Senior Vice President for
Academic Affairs and Provost Rodney Rogers was the speaker.
The faculty member is Dr. Edmund Danziger Jr., a University Distinguished Teaching
Professor of history; the administrator is Deborah Novak, assistant dean of
students.
The students, all of whom are juniors, seniors or graduate students, were selected
for membership based on academic excellence and demonstrated leadership in one
or more of four additional categories: athletics; campus and community service,
social and religious activities and campus government; journalism, speech and
mass media; and creative and performing arts.
Danziger, whose expertise includes the history of 19th century America, the American
West and American and Canadian Indians, joined the faculty in 1966, after having
earned his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Illinois. He was
chair of the history department for five years.
He is the author of four books, including his most recent, "Great Lakes Indian
Accommodation and Resistance during the Early Reservation Years,
1859-1900," published in 2009. He has also written more than 20 journal
articles and given numerous presentations at both national and international
conferences. In 2006, he was a finalist for the American Historical
Association’s Distinguished Teaching Award.
BGSU’s Board of Trustees honored Danziger for his scholarly and teaching abilities in
1995 with the title of Distinguished Teaching Professor.
Novak, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Walsh University, joined the
Bowling Green staff in 2001 as a residence hall director, becoming the assistant
director of student affairs in 2004 and then assistant dean of students two
years later.
Among her many duties, Novak is responsible for overseeing all student-involved, on-
and off-campus incidents requiring university disciplinary action. She is also
the adviser to numerous BGSU groups and organizations, including the university
mascots, Phi Eta Sigma academic honor society and Mortar Board honor society,
which recognizes seniors for achievement in scholarship, leadership and service.

This past year, she was honored as Adviser of the Year for her work with Alpha Lambda
Delta academic honor society. In the community, she is serving as vice president
on the executive board of the Wood County Court Appointed Special Advocate
Program, which serves as an advocate for children in the court system or foster
care.
Students from Wood County chosen for ODK:
• Mackenzie Albach, Bowling Green, was tapped for membership under the campus and
community service, social and religious activities and campus government
category. The senior geography major is a member of Chi Omega social sorority,
Order of Omega Greek leadership honor society, Omicron Delta Epsilon economics
honor society and the American Marketing Association. In addition, she is a
two-year member of the Falcon Marching Band and works in the university’s
Admission’s Office as a tour guide. Off campus, she is a member of the Black
Swamp Players theater troupe.
• Elizabeth Bolze, Bowling Green, is a senior majoring in art history. She was
selected for membership under the creative and performing arts, and the campus
and community service, social and religious activities and campus government
categories. President of the university’s Art History Association, she has
served as either an intern or volunteer with the Toledo Museum of Art, the Arts
Commission of Greater Toledo, the Black Swamp Arts Festival and the university’s
Arts Village Learning Community. In addition, she completed an internship at the
Museo Marino Marini in Florence, Italy, this past summer. The recipient of a
scholarship from the Toledo Federation of Arts Societies Inc.
• Seth Childers, Bowling Green, is a junior majoring in social studies. A transfer
student from Adrian College where he was the recipient of a President’s
Scholarship and completed two years of study, he was selected for membership
under the athletics category. He is a graduate of Otsego High School.
• Olivia Hall, Bowling Green, is a junior majoring in middle childhood education. A
student employee in the university’s Office of Disability Services, she is also
a volunteer in Kenwood Elementary School’s after-school tutoring program and in
Ridge Elementary School’s reading enrichment program. On campus, she is a member
of Alpha Omicron Pi social sorority and is a student leader in BGSU’s New
Student Orientation Program. She was selected for membership under the campus
and community service, social and religious activities and campus government
category.
• MinJeong Jeon, Perrysburg, is a junior majoring in nursing. A transfer student from
the State University of New York at Binghamton where she was pursuing a music
degree, Jeon is a member of the Student Nurses Association and is a volunteer at
St. Luke’s Hospital in Maumee. She was selected for membership under the
creative and performing arts, and the campus and community service, social and
religious activities and campus government categories.
• Ryan Evarts, Rossford, is a junior majoring in middle childhood education with the
goal of teaching mathematics or social studies to junior high school students.
Maintaining a 4.0 grade point average during his Bowling Green academic career,
Evarts is a vice president of Alpha Sigma Phi social fraternity and a three-year
member of the university’s club tennis team. He is also a member of the steering
committee for the annual Dance Marathon, which yearly raises more than $100,000
for the Children’s Miracle Network. Evarts also works as a Campus Tour Guide,
and for the past two years has volunteered his time as an Orientation Leader,
serving as a mentor and guide for freshmen during their first several days on
campus each fall. Selected for membership under the athletics, and the campus
and community service, social and religious activities and campus government
categories. He is a 2009 graduate of Rossford High School.
ODK was founded in 1914 at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va. It was the
first college honor society to have a national scope and honor students for
meritorious leadership and service in extracurricular activities. Bowling
Green’s chapter or circle was created in 1949 and since then more than 1,700
students, faculty, staff and alumni have been initiated.