Pitt Senior Greg Heller-LaBelle Named 2006 Omicron Delta Kappa Senior of the Year

PITTSBURGH-Greg Heller-LaBelle, a University of Pittsburgh senior with four majors-English writing, psychology, religious studies, and art history-was named 2006 Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK) Senior of the Year during Pitt's annual Honors Convocation Feb. 24 in Carnegie Music Hall 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.

Heller-LaBelle, former editor-in-chief of The Pitt News, came to the University with an all-expenses paid Chancellor's Scholarship. Graduating this spring, Heller-LaBelle is writing a novel to serve as an undergraduate thesis for the Honors College Bachelor of Philosophy degree.

Last year, Heller-LaBelle won the Trollope Prize competition administered by the Expository Writing Program at Harvard University for his award-winning essay, "To Err Is Human, To Edit Divine." The prize is named for Victorian novelist and short-story writer Anthony Trollope (1815-1882), who wrote more than 50 novels.

Heller-LaBelle's name, along with the names of previous ODK winners, is 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.

Heller-LaBelle is the son of Diane LaBelle and Michael Heller of Bethlehem.

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