Since June 2019, Sigma Tau Delta has been under the new and energetic leadership of Matthew Williams ‘20. Williams is a student in the honors English Program and has focused his efforts on recruitment to build up LMU’s chapter of the honors society. One of the greatest benefits of joining the organization, in Williams’s view, is the collegiality it breeds among English majors. “It gives you a sort of a social group on campus you can hang out with, and for English majors I think that’s a really cool thing because there’s not necessarily anything that really gathers us. It’s a way to hang out with fellow people who are interested in writing and reading,” says Williams. In addition, after paying the membership fee, students become members for life and gain access to all kinds of professional and academic opportunities, including the annual Sigma Tau Delta Conference in Las Vegas, and co-sponsored internships with major book publishers, scholarships, and writing awards.
Williams’s other goal is for the organization “to become a part of the fabric of the University.” This has mostly involved hosting different events, including an October asexual, aromantic poetry reading for LGBTQ History Month, and a World Literature Booth for LMU’s Global Citizen Day. Sigma Tau Delta’s next initiative is to set up a tutoring program with the International Office that pairs Sigma Tau Delta members with international students to help them with their writing skills. “Wherever possible we’d like to pair members and international students who speak the same language, so that if a French student is making mistakes, a French speaking Sigma Tau Delta member will understand why.” Williams also expressed interest in working with other departments on campus like Women’s and Gender Studies as well as Theological Studies to cohost events in the Spring. Applications to join the organization are open and will continue to be so next semester. Undergraduate students need at least a 3.0 GPA and to have taken at least two English classes outside the general requirements for the major. Graduate students must be in an English-related field, maintain a 3.3 GPA, and have completed at least one semester at LMU.
