MANCHESTER, N.H. — A Saint Anselm College student from Biddeford has been accepted into Alpha Lambda Delta, a national honor society for first-year students, for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Reegan Hussey of Biddeford, a Natural Sciences major in the Class of 2021 received the honor earlier this month.

To be eligible for invitation, students must have a 3.5 grade point average or higher in their first semester or first year, must be ranked in the top 20 percent of their class, and must be enrolled full-time at an institution with an active chapter of Alpha Lambda Delta.

Alpha Lambda Delta was founded in 1924 by Maria Leonard, the Dean of Women at the University of Illinois, to recognize academic excellence among freshman women.

One year prior, Dean Thomas Arkle Clark had founded Phi Eta Sigma, an honor society to recognize academic excellence among freshman men. Both groups became coeducational in 1976 in response to Title IX. Alpha Lamba Delta has grown to over 275 chapters and has initiated over one million students.

Founded in 1889, Saint Anselm College is a nationally-ranked four-year liberal arts college providing a 21st century education in the Catholic, Benedictine tradition.

Located in the greater Boston region in southern New Hampshire, Saint Anselm is well known for its strong liberal arts curriculum, the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, commitment to inclusiveness, a highly successful nursing program, and a legacy of community service.