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Six Honorary Members Among W&L ODK Inductees
Rockbridge Recovery Also Honored
Washington and Lee University’s Alpha Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK), the national leadership honor society, welcomed 51 new members during its spring induction ceremony on March 22.
Lena Hill, university provost, delivered the keynote address and was inducted as an honorary ODK member.
Hill joined five other honorary inductees recognized that day, Eric Spencer, Valerie Moliterno, Michelle Drumbl, Jane Stewart and Jennifer Waller.
In her address, titled “Leading with Grace and Understanding,” she remarked on the value W&L places on student leadership, and how every leader has a choice when it comes to selecting a leadership style.
The type of liberal arts education that W&L embodies, she said, helps its students lead with grace, not least of all because of the emphasis on engaging with the ideas of thinkers across many disciplines.
Hill told the student inductees: “I urge you to get ready by cultivating grace, and to begin leading with the grace that comes from understanding human complexity. For the good of this campus while you are here and for the good of the world after you leave, I exhort you to nurture graceful leadership.”
The Honorary Inductees Hill joined Washington and Lee in 2018 as dean of the college and professor of English and Africana studies and was named provost in 2021.
Hill is credited with significantly diversifying the faculty at W&L by developing a series of initiatives to promote hiring best practices. She also spearheaded faculty and staff development programs, including the newly established employee resource groups and a mentoring system for new faculty.
Hill directed the inclusion of W&L in the national Consortium for Faculty Diversity and instituted the Ted DeLaney postdoctoral program in the college, which has since been expanded to the Williams School.
Prior to joining W&L’s faculty, she served in multiple roles at the University of Iowa and also taught at Duke University, Yale University and University of North Carolina. -A Lexington native, Spencer is the president and owner of Spencer Home Center.
He took over the role of president after the untimely death of his father and has nearly tripled the business volume over the past 20 years.
Through the business and its employees, Spencer Home Center has been instrumental in supporting various nonprofit community organizations, including Habitat for Humanity, and Spencer helped with donating land for the development of Greenhouse Village.
In 2009, Spencer helped establish CornerStone Bank, helping to raise the capital to open the bank and serving as a director since its establishment. Over the years, he has served on the board of several local or-ganizations, including the Lex-ington- Rockbridge Chamber of Commerce, Rockbridge Health Center, Ducks Unlimited and the Lexington Golf and Country Club. Spencer has two daughters with his wife of 28 years, Jaime. -Moliterno is a native of Southern California and moved to Lexington 12 years ago to marry the love of her life, Jim. She has been an active volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, where she served as the treasurer and the chair of the building committee.
She currently volunteers with the Rockbridge Area Relief Association, where she has served as a food pantry and HelpLine volunteer, treasurer, and is in her third year as the board president.
Moliterno worked for IBM for 29 years, holding various positions in finance, administration and sales, and she ended her career managing a global program to recruit and negotiate partner agreements with smaller technology companies.
-Drumbl is the Robert O. Bentley Professor of Law and director of the School of Law’s tax clinic. She joined the law school faculty in 2004 and has served as the associate dean of academic affairs since 2023.
As director of the tax clinic, Drumbl provides representation for low-income taxpayers in IRS disputes and educational outreach on tax-related matters. Further supporting the community, she is one of the nation’s leading scholars on the earned income tax credit, a major source of financial support for the Rockbridge community.
She served as interim dean at W&L during the 2021-2022 academic year and has served on, and chaired, a number of law school committees.
Prior to coming to W&L, she was an attorney for the Office of Associate Chief Counsel for the IRS. -Stewart is the director of sustainability at Washington and Lee University, where her efforts to recommend improvements in campus infrastructure and leadership in student and employee education have resulted in significant reductions in W&L’s campus utility consumption and carbon footprint.
She was also instrumental in updating the university’s Climate Action Plan in 2019, identifying interim goals for the next decade that will help keep the university on track to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.
As co-chair for the University Sustainability Committee, a position she’s held since 2019, her work has raised awareness of sustainability issues among hundreds of students and employees.
Since joining W&L in 2006, Stewart has held numerous roles, including assistant director of corporate foundation relations and director of parent giving, and became one of the university’s inaugural energy specialists in 2011. Outside of W&L, she has served as a board member for the Rockbridge Area Conservation Council since 2019 and has been a member of the Virginia Conservation Network since 2020. -Waller is the national president of Omicron Delta Kappa in Lexington.
Prior to her appointment in 2023, she spent a year as the director of special projects for the Association of College and University Housing Officers, International, and a decade as the executive director of the Association for Student Conduct Administration, where her executive leadership led to a greater than 60% increase in the association’s membership.
Waller’s experience also includes roles at Texas A&M University, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Texas Tech University and the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse.
Waller is a member of the American Society for Association Executives, the Florida Society of Association Executives and NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.
Other Awards
In addition to inducting members and honorary members, ODK awarded the James G. Leyburn Award, the Rupert Latture Award, the Cheryl M. Hogle Distinguished Service Award and the Circle Leader of the Year Award at the 2024 induction ceremony.
The James G. Leyburn Award, given to a university or local organization that demonstrates outstanding community service, was presented to the Rockbridge Recovery Center.
Rockbridge Recovery is a nonprofit, peer-run resource center based in Buena Vista for people who struggle with both mental health and substance use. Established in 2022, it was founded specifically to provide addiction rehabilitation assistance and has since expanded to address the needs of numerous community groups. This spring, the organization plans to open the HOPE House, which will provide full-time housing and support to up to six men struggling with addiction and homelessness.
The Rupert Latture Award recognizes a sophomore who has demonstrated outstanding leadership potential. This year, the award was presented to Daniel Reiter, a business administration and theater double major from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. A Bonner Scholar, he is heavily engaged in the Shepherd Program at W&L and is an advocate for Blue Ridge Mile, a student-led program committed to supporting clients in navigating the steps required to obtain or reinstate a driver’s license. Reiter is also a founder of Rockbridge County’s Sensory-Friendly Theatre, Arts & Recreation Camp, which aims to empower neurodivergent youth.
The Cheryl M. Hogle Distinguished Service Award honors a member of the society who has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to ODK through outstanding service. This year, the award was presented to Linda Hooks, professor of economics and head of W&L’s Economics Department. Hooks joined W&L’s faculty in 1993 as an assistant professor before taking on her current role in 2005. Hooks has demonstrated her dedication to her community and ODK by serving as ODK’s national vice president and chair of the mission committee, and she is currently a trustee emerita. She is also a member of the regional advisory board for Truist Bank, volunteers with the local swim team, her church and the local secondary schools, and is a past president of the Virginia Association of Economists.
The Circle Leader of the Year, given to a student member of the circle who best represents the ideals and aspirations of ODK, was presented to Diwesh Kumar ’24. Kumar is from Karachi, Pakistan, and is pursuing a double major in math and economics. He serves as the vice president of the Executive Committee (EC) of the Student Body; the adviser of the Williams Investment Society, where he mentors students on investment techniques, as well as career and professional development; a co-chair for Kathekon, the student group for alumni relations; a peer tutor for the university’s Department of Economics; and is involved in the Johnson Program and the Center for International Education.
