Sigma Tau Delta, International English Honorary, inducts four new members

Four students were inducted into the Omega Delta chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the national English honorary on Sunday, September 8th, according the Dr. James Matthews, the faculty advisor to the local chapter. 

The students included Lishea G. Eddy, Bailey D. McInturff, Melissa L. Nichols, and Lily M. Peterson.  All four are seniors majoring in English. McInturff and Peterson are also members of the University’s Honors Program.

“While the study of literature is a happy work, it is often done in a solitary way. This afternoon is especially joyous because we come together to celebrate the fine work of four of our students,” Matthews said. He invited each student to read from a literary work that moved or inspired them.

Eddy, Grant Town native, read a short selection from Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story “The Yellow Wallpaper.” McInturff, a native of Beckley, read Mary Oliver’s poem “Rumi.”

Originally, from Fairmont, Nichols chose a passage from Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden. Peterson, from Beckley, read from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “American Scholar.”  

Matthews called the induction a celebration of the students’ accomplishments and then administered the induction oath. 

“I was honored to have been selected for this organization. I struggled so much as a child, not learning to read until the third grade,” Eddy said. “Majoring in English alone has been an accomplishment to me, but being chosen for this honor has taken that feeling even further. I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of something so special.”

“Being inducted into Sigma Tau Delta represents the culmination of my love for reading and writing in my college career,” McInturff said. “I feel so honored to be a member of Sigma Tau Delta where I can share my love of reading and writing with others and be a part of a larger community of English and literature majors.” 

“I feel very honored to receive recognition in an area of study I am passionate about by being invited to join Sigma Tau Delta,” Nichols said. “I have had the pleasure of being in classes with the other students who were inducted today and consider myself fortunate to be included with such a hardworking and determined group.”

Peterson commented, “I am so honored and grateful to be a part of Fairmont’s chapter of Sigma Tau Delta. Being invited to be a part of something so prestigious is more special than I could have ever imagined.”

“We are very proud of these Sigma Tau Delta students who represent the best of liberal arts values,” Dr. Angela Schwer, chair of the Department of Humanities said.

Sigma Tau Delta is the international English honor society, founded in 1924 at Dakota Wesleyan University. The society confers distinction for high achievement in English language and literature in undergraduate, graduate, and professional studies; promotes interest in literature and the English language in surrounding communities; fosters all aspects of the discipline of English, including literature, language, and writing; and promotes exemplary character and good fellowship among its members.

Sigma Tau DeltaDr. James MatthewsDr. Angela SchwerDepartment of Language and Literature