Tri-Alpha is a national honor society with 346 chapters across the nation. UNH established the first two chapters in New Hampshire: Lambda Omega on the Durham campus, and Mu Theta in Manchester/CPS Online.
If you are a first-generation college student (neither of your parents/guardians earned a four-year degree in the U.S. or Canada by the time you turned 18 years old) and you’ve earned 30 credits as an undergraduate with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.2, or you’re a first-gen graduate student with 9 credits and a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5, then you qualify for membership! You will be invited to apply to Tri-Alpha in the fall.
Faculty, staff, and administrators who were first in their families to earn a four-year degree are also invited to apply! If you’re faculty or staff and haven’t yet identified to us as first-gen, please let us know by clicking HERE.
2024-25 Tri-Alpha Officers, left to right: Danielle Dos Santos, Halle McGrail, Mauricio Fridlund, Samuel Vose, Hope Hamel.
2025 Tri-Alpha Induction Ceremony
2025-2026 Tri-Alpha Officers and Advisors
Officers:
President: Charlotte Hahn
Vice President: Sarah DeMelo
Treasurer: Shevis Hankins
Secretary: Sierra Halligan
Historian: Grace Harrigan
Advisors:
Dawna Perez, Ph.D., Institute for Student Success
Dr. Easton White, Assistant Professor, COLSA
Tri-Alpha Fast Facts
- Founded in 2018 at Moravian University to honor excellent academic achievement by first-generation college students.
- Membership is lifetime for one-time dues payment at application. $20 for students, $40 for staff/faculty. Respectively, $15 and $25 goes to National, and the balance stays with the local chapter to fund Induction Ceremonies, events, speakers, etc. The MUB charges a processing fee, so the actual cost is slightly higher.
- Induction ceremonies are held in the fall. If you qualify, you will receive an email invitation to fill out an application. You must both fill out the application and follow the link to pay your dues in order to become a member.
- New members receive an official certificate of membership and a pin. Graduating seniors, grad students, and faculty/staff also receive a blue/grey double-braided graduation cord. Underclassmen can pick up their cord senior year.
- We have over 50 faculty and staff members at UNH who are Tri-Alpha Members.
- We have inducted well over 200 UNH students to Tri-Alpha since April 2025.
- Officers hold membership meetings, decide with members on events, fundraisers, and service. To stay informed, follow @unhtrialpha on Instagram and watch your email for updates.
- Officers hold elections in early spring for the following year’s Officer roles.
