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Alice DiFrancesco
  • Psychology
  • Class of 2015
  • Bristol, CT

Eastern Connecticut State University Student Alice DiFrancesco of Bristol Member of Honors Club

2012 Mar 1

Alice DiFrancesco '15 of Bristol, CT, is a member of the Honors Club at Eastern Connecticut State University. DiFrancesco is a Pre-Early Childhood Education major.

The Honors Club provides opportunities for social, cultural, and educational interaction among members of the University Honors program, as well as interaction between the program and the campus community. During the fall semester, the Honors Club was able to organize, host and/or participate in a variety of activities both on and off campus. Within the first month of school, the Honors Club organized the first Honors Carnival, which was a campus-wide social event that featured games, lights, music and cotton candy. The club also sponsored a canned goods and money drive to benefit the Covenant Soup Kitchen in Willimantic. Club members also hosted tutoring sessions with students in the Dual Enrollment Initiative, and spent Fridays helping fellow Eastern students with their schoolwork in several different subjects. At the end of the fall semester, 10 club members had been accepted to present their research at the Northeast Regional Honors Council Conference that will be held in April 2012.

More than 30 percent of the full-time students enrolled at Eastern now participate in at least one club/organization, an increase of almost 10 percent since fall 2008. Students who participate in clubs/organizations excel in the classroom and do better academically than students who do not participate. In spring 2011, 1,345 full-time students participating in clubs had an average GPA of 3.06, much higher than the 2.84 average for those students not taking part in any of the nearly 70 clubs/organizations.

Clubs/organizations planned and implemented almost 600 events last academic year. These programs have a direct impact on the daily life of all students on Eastern's campus. The programs range from social to educational, physical to spiritual, and civic engagement programs that equally affect the community.

Eastern Connecticut State University is the state's public liberal arts university. Eastern serves approximately 5,600 students each year on its Willimantic campus and satellite locations.