Two Outstanding Pitt Seniors Named 2005 Omicron Delta Kappa Senior of the Year

PITTSBURGH—Elizabeth Marie Blasi, a University of Pittsburgh senior majoring in communications with a minor in theater, and David Tyler Gourley, a Pitt senior majoring in political science and history, were both named 2005 Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK) Senior of the Year during Pitt's annual Honors Convocation Feb. 28 in Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall Museum in Oakland.

ODK, founded in 1914 at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., is an honorary society that recognizes students who maintain a high standard of leadership in collegiate activities. The award is given to students who possess and exhibit outstanding leadership qualities in service to the University.

Blasi is on Pitt's Student Government Board (SGB) and serves as its business manager. She also is creator and coordinator of SGB's Light Up Night and food committee. In her SGB role, she attended in 2004 the Conference on Student Government Associations at Texas A&M University and The Institute for Leadership Conference at the University of San Francisco.

In addition, Blasi is a member of Pitt Pathfinders, the Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, and Senate Council. She also is president of the Chi Omega Sorority and a vocalist in Pitt's Jazz Band Ensemble.

A Mt. Lebanon native, Blasi volunteers with the Jumpstart Reader's Program and Make-A-Wish Foundation. She also volunteered in Children's Hospital Oncology Department and participated in "Clean Up Oakland."

An active member of Pitt's Honors College, Gourley is founding president of the Collegiate Eagle Scout Association; a trainer and steering committee chair of the Laurel Ridge Outdoor Leadership Program; and founder and organizer of both Natural Predators, an independent high adventure group, and The Inklings, a science fiction discussion group.

Gourley also is a University Scholar and member of Pi Sigma Alpha, a political science honors fraternity. His numerous awards include a Richard P. Simmons Merit Scholarship, a National Security Education Program Boren Study Abroad Scholarship, and a Venturing Leadership Award. From January to August 2004, he studied and taught in Tanzania.

A Tarentum native, Gourley participates in Extraordinary Tutoring at the East End Cooperative Ministry and volunteers at Family House.

Blasi and Gourley's names, along with the names of previous ODK winners, are engraved in the stone sidewalk between the Cathedral of Learning and Heinz Chapel in Oakland. The walk is the only one of its kind in the country.

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