April 19, 2018
April 19, 2018
Much to the delight of English majors, the Asbury University chapter of Sigma Tau Delta International English Honor Society has been revived this spring. Dr. Erin Penner is serving as faculty advisor of the chapter.
“The national honor society offers internship opportunities, conferences at which students can deliver papers, chances to publish their work, and scholarships,” Penner said. “Membership lasts for a lifetime, so this gives students a chance to continue to hone and broadcast their skills well beyond their time at Asbury.”
The University’s chapter of Sigma Tau Delta was originally chartered in 1984 and is being revived this year due to high demand from English majors. The first cohort since 1985 will be inducted on April 23, 2018. With 23 new honor society members, the revival of the chapter was ignited by students Anna Leigh Morrow ’18 and Brandon Smoot ’18.
Founding Officers Morrow and Smoot set about creating a petition to bring back Sigma Tau Delta to campus. Students were passionate to bring this into fruition in order to have more outlets and opportunities for English-related activities as well as to show potential employers their dedication to the field.
Requirements for joining Sigma Tau Delta include being of sophomore status or higher, taking several English Department classes above the foundational level and maintaining a grade average of a B or above.
Around a third of the English, English education, creative writing and ESL majors applied to be inducted into the honor society.
“I was thrilled our students showed such initiative in launching the honor society chapter here at Asbury,” Penner said. “It’s wonderful to see them place such a premium on community and excellent scholarship in our field. Bringing in the honor society also demonstrates how aware our students are that they need to lay claim to their specialty in a much bigger realm, both before and after they graduate.”
To learn more about Asbury University’s English Department visit asbury.edu/english.