Sigma Tau Delta
About Us
Sigma Tau Delta, the International English Honor Society, has over 900 active chapters both in the United States and abroad. Sigma Tau Delta's goals are to promote and improve all aspects of the English discipline, promote literacy, and provide members a sense of community. Becoming a member of the Geneseo chapter confers the distinction of achievement in the area of English Literature and Creative Writing.
We aim to foster community through literature, language, and writing. We also want to promote literacy and service-learning by volunteering with groups whose mission we share in. Finally, we want our students to be examples of academic engagement, good character, and citizenship.
Our Commitments
Every year, we devote our efforts to initiatives that promote literacy and learning in our community. Some of these commitments we devote ourselves to for just one year, but many of them we revisit each year due to their high rate of success and engagement.
Some of these initiatives include:
- Organizing the annual Sigma Tau Delta Lecture Series
- Advertising English and English-related events and community building on campus
- Helping with English advising and orientation
- Helping members receive funding and prepare their work to present at the national Sigma Tau Delta Convention
- Designing and selling English Department merchandise
- Collecting presents during the holiday season for families in need
- Donating to and raising awareness of a variety of charities whose goals align with the values of Sigma Tau Delta
- Volunteering with the annual Rochester Children's Book Festival
How to Join
We will reach out to you! Sigma Tau Delta invites students in their second year or higher. In order to be eligible for membership, a student must be registered for the current semester and:
- have completed ENGL 203
- have completed at least 12 further credits in English at Geneseo (which can include FMST courses)
- have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0
- have at least a 3.3 GPA in English
Early every spring, we email every student who is eligible to join. To accept the invitation, there is a one-time fee of $65 which grants and covers membership for every remaining undergraduate semester, so we recommend joining as soon as you become eligible to gain the most potential benefit. Our induction ceremony and welcome usually takes place in April.
Social Media
We maintain the large noticeboard in the second-floor hallway of Welles. Keep up to date with all the different events and initiatives Geneseo's chapter of Sigma Tau Delta is engaged in by following us on:
Contact Us
If you have questions about Sigma Tau Delta at Geneseo please email us. Linked below is the email of our chapter advisor.
- Advisor: Dr. Gillian Paku
Recent Annual Reports
2022
In late March, six current members attended the annual convention in person, which you can read about here: Sigma Tau Delta students present their work in Atlanta. In October, we hosted the first HalloWelles, a literary Halloween celebration in collaboration with the Geneseo English faculty.
This year, Sigma Tau Delta supported ArcGLOW, a not-for-profit organization that offers critical services for people in Geneseo's community with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) such as transportation, life skills classes, career opportunities, and social support. Our goal was to get as many Geneseo students as possible to register as members of The Arc to secure them the funding they need for the services they provide. We ensured free membership for all Geneseo students.
2021
This year, our E-board dedicated itself to outreach, accessibility, and promotion of diversity. First and foremost, we expanded our presence on the internet and reached out directly to new English majors. We also ran a petition campaign to address the lack of diversity in the Humanities requirement at Geneseo and presented a roundtable on the topic of diversity in the Humanities at the digital Sigma Tau Delta convention in March, which you can read about here: English department students present at Sigma Tau Delta international convention.