May 2nd Induction Marks Twenty Five Years of Sigma Tau Delta Honors at NU 

The May 2nd induction of eighteen English majors and minors into Sigma Tau Delta (STD) will mark twenty-five years that the university has been affiliated with the international English honor society.

In advance of the induction ceremony, Jonathan Pride, a graduating senior who has been a member of STD since his sophomore year, accepted a plaque on behalf of the university’s chapter, Tau Omicron, that was issued on March 31st by the organization’s president and executive director and recognizes “twenty-five years of excellence.”

Kathleen McDonald, assistant professor of English and STD advisor, said with the twenty-fifth anniversary, the organization is “at an exciting crossroads.”  As current members graduate, McDonald said she was “thrilled” that so many new students qualified to be inducted.  She is hopeful they will pick up where those graduating have left off, striving to give the organization a more vibrant presence within the university community.

Over the last year, STD members began raising money for a granite monument of the group’s Greek letters to be installed outside of Webb Hall similar to those of psychology’s honor society outside Ainsworth.  Members also sponsored a popular “Jeopardy-style” trivia night that pitted faculty against students, testing their mostly-literary knowledge.  In the past, they have joined forces with Pegasus Players, NU’s eighty-year-old theatre troupe, sponsoring a post-play discussion of David Mamet’s Oleanna among students and faculty.

Since seven of the fifteen new inductees are not graduating, McDonald anticipates an influx of energy from group members whom she hopes will bring “new and exciting ideas” that continue to promote the organization.  “I strongly encourage all of the new members to embrace the opportunity,” McDonald said, “to leave their own stamp on the English Department here at Norwich.

Sigma Tau Delta 2007 Inductees

Ryan Behan
Amanda Benson
Cassondra Blasioli
Krystal Brandt
Michael Cleary
Jamie Corcoran
Nicholas Giacomozzi
John Healy
Danell Huntley
Michael Iaquinto
Frances Jackson
Andrew Kettner
Gregory Meisinger
Douglas Meyer
Jennifer Morin
Charmaine Morris
Zachary Quigley