LSU Students Continue Tradition of Leadership

In sports, a dynasty is a team or individual that dominates their sport or league for an extended length of time. Some leagues maintain official lists of dynasties, often as part of their hall of fame. As of March 2021, the LSU chapter of the American Student Dental Association (ASDA) has produced its own dynasty of national leaders.This is the third year in a row an LSU dental student will represent District 5 on the Board of Trustees, ASDA’s governing body. District 5 is comprised of seven dental schools across the southeastern United States. 

Gerard Scannell (class of 2021 – far right) became the District 5 Trustee at the 2019 ASDA Annual Session, leading his cabinet to develop new initiatives for the district such as a novel pre-dental mentor program and a wellness competition. He held a very successful District 5 Meeting in Orlando, Florida with over 100 attendees. His work on the ASDA Board of Trustees led him to be appointed as the student representative on the ADA American Dental Political Action Committee, a role which he will continue to serve in until October 2021. At the 2020 ASDA Annual Session, he was elected a member of the ASDA Executive Committee as one of ASDA’s two national vice-presidents.  

At the same annual session, Megan Duhon (class of 2021 - center), the second LSU student in this district trustee dynasty, was elected to the Board of Trustees. She assumed her role as the ASDA District 5 Trustee at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA. With the shift to the virtual world, Megan continued to push for district excellence while transitioning the district to the “new normal.” Under her leadership, she brought chapter leaders together to share information between schools on state licensure efforts and clinic updates, among other things. Her cabinet also kept the district engaged with new initiatives such as virtual game nights, new social media campaigns (including a new website), and a new community service challenge called the “Community Cup.” To further increase membership, she developed a new pre-dental Instagram and webinars for pre-dental students. Her cabinet also held District 5’s first-ever virtual district meeting with more than 200 viewers.  

Recently at the 2021 virtual annual session, Megan passed the baton to the newly elected District 5 trustee, Marco Gargano (LSUSD class of 2023 – far left). Marco has since released a statement saying he plans to add two new positions to his cabinet: a diversity and inclusion chair and a patriotism chair. Marco is the third LSU student in this ASDA District 5 Trustee dynasty, and we eagerly look forward to seeing him building on the work of the LSU student leaders before him.  

 Call for Nominations

 Help us award two of LSUSD's most coveted honors. Alumnus of the Year and Distinguished Alumnus Awards will be given October 29, 2021 at Alumni Day, but first we need your nominations! The deadline for nominations is July 31st.

 Use the QR code below to make your nominations!