By Mike Piacentino | Special to UM News
Thirty one students, faculty, staff and alumni were tapped last Wednesday and Thursday into the University of Miami Iron Arrow Honor Society.
Iron Arrow was started in 1926, about a month after the University of Miami opened. It honors individuals who show a love of alma mater and embody the qualities of good character, leadership, scholarship, and humility. There are more than 2,900 members.
Christian Garcia, executive director of the Toppel Career Center, had the rare opportunity Thursday to tap his predecessor, Jim Smart, who is now executive director of Housing and Residential Life, into the “highest honor attained at the University of Miami.”
Iron Arrow members frequently use fake meetings or ask soon-to-be-tappees for a quick coffee break in order to secure a tapping time and location. So Smart had his “meeting” with Brenden Kollar, a former resident assistant who is working on the University’s new housing plan. But the meeting was soon interrupted by the familiar beating of the drum, and Garcia and Matt McCabe, a UM alumnus and former resident assistant in Hecht Residential College, pulled their mentor from his chair and presented him for the ritual tapping.
Read more on E-Veritas: New Iron Arrow Tappees Humbled and Honored
Fall 2014 tappee list:
Daniel Atherton
David Birnbach
Patricia Byers
Nejla Calvo
Phillip Chan
David Coulter
Douglas “Doug” Crawford
Melissa Damas
Ryan Dauer
Juan Carlos del-Valle
Nicole Garcia
Barry Gelman
Michael Genden
Kysha Harriell
Hope Hua
Erin Kobetz
Ken Lee
Vinay Madhusoodanan
Michael Maguire
Ashley McBride
Shane McDermott
Angelica Melillo
Charles Mercer
Julie Piccione
David Rivero
Mitchell Roffer
James “Jim” Smart
Heather Stephens
Guerdiana Thelomar
Richard Thurer
Kristy Whyte