UNC ASDA Chapter has First-time Wins at ASDA Annual Session

The UNC chapter of the American Student Dental Association (ASDA) received multiple first-time honors at the recent ASDA meeting in Atlanta.

During the annual ASDA Gold Crown Awards banquet, which names more than 30 award recipients, the UNC ASDA chapter was named the Outstanding New Auto-Enroll ASDA Chapter. This award recognizes the chapter that has shown significant improvement and also has achieved auto-enroll status with its membership. This is the school’s first ASDA Gold Crown Award.

Additionally, first-year D.D.S. student Stephanie Leyrer was elected to the District 4 cabinet as secretary. Leyrer will serve the national ASDA organization as the immediate liaison to the District 4 trustee and will represent UNC on a national level. Within the UNC ASDA chapter, Leyrer acts as the chapter’s liaison with the North Carolina Dental Society to keep the society and students connected. This marks the first time in recent history that a UNC student has held a national ASDA office.

“This was an exciting meeting for UNC ASDA,” said co-president Elizabeth Consky, D.D.S. candidate 2014. “It was incredibly special to win a Gold Crown Award and have Stephanie elected to the ASDA national board during the year that we were able to bring our largest student contingency to the meeting.”

During the meeting, the 11 student representatives from UNC spent time networking with members of other chapters and idea sharing about improving the membership experience for students. Additionally, members represented UNC by voting on a number of ASDA national policy issues.

According to their website, ASDA is a national student-run organization that protects and advances the rights, interests and welfare of dental students. ASDA is represented by local school chapters at more than 60 dental schools nationwide.