Karen McTeague helped clothe over 1,500 people.

McTeague, a senior communication studies major and president of Lambda Pi Eta, a communication honorary fraternity, does more than just go to class at Eastern, she tries to better the community and help those in need. She has been recognized this year as a panther angel.

When McTeague and other members of Lambda Pi Eta saw the devastation Hurricane Katrina caused last fall, they decided to act. Lambda Pi Eta’s advisor, Dr. Melanie Mills, had family living in Biloxi, Miss. and passed on some of the personal horror stories to the members.

After seeing the people in the south lose almost everything, Lambda Pi Eta decided to start a t-shirt collection from students and members of the community to send down to Mississippi. They set up a drop box outside of the communication studies department and advertised around campus along with coordinating with the cardiovascular recovery group at Sarah Bush Lincoln Hospital, McTeague said. It was the biggest service project Lambda Pi Eta participated in this year.

According to Mills, McTeague was very involved with the t-shirt project. She organized work meetings, created flyers and worked to sort the t-shirts by size and pack them into their appropriate boxes.

“If I were to describe Karen to someone that had never met her, I would say she is a highly dedicated and extremely intelligent person who has a huge heart and would do anything to help a fellow student,” said Leigh McElhenny, a senior communication studies major and member of Lambda Pi Eta.

Lambda Pi Eta was able to collect over 1,500 shirts for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. McTeague and the group worked with a senior citizens home, a local college and a church in Mississippi to make sure the t-shirts were distributed to hurricane victims.

Sarah Lokaitis, a junior communication studies major and co-vice president of Lambda Pi Eta, said to work with McTeague is a blast because she knows how to have fun and at the same time gives it her all when dealing with work or projects.

“She’s very reliable and that is something an organization like ours looks for,” Lokaitis said. “She’s a “do-er”.”

McTeague said the best part of the t-shirt project was organizing the shirts because they made it fun, took pictures and laughed the entire time.

“I am very lucky to have gotten to spend my senior year working with such an amazing group of people,” she said.

McTeague has a large course load this semester, McElhenny said, but that doesn’t affect her ability to be a great leader.

“She is a fellow student, but her drive and ability to accomplish many tasks at the same time pushes me to be a better student. I very much admire Karen and what she has done for the communication studies department,” McElhenny said.

Lambda Pi Eta has been more active this year, according to Mills, who said they have had more meetings, fundraisers and service projects than usual and can attribute that partly to McTeague’s leadership within the group.

“Karen has been a pleasure to work with. She has made well-rounded contributions to the group academically, socially and in terms of service to the department and community. I admire that.” Mills said.

McTeague will be graduating this May and will return to start her Master’s Degree at Eastern this fall.

“It’s a shame she is not recognized as much as she ought to be,” said Lokaitis, “I aspire to be like her as a senior. I am running for president of Lambda Pi Eta next year and hope to carry on the good things that she has started.”