WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., April 10, 2018 — West Liberty University was honored recently with a commemorative plaque signifying 40 years of membership in the International English Honor Society.
Established in 1924, the global honor society is dedicated to fostering literacy and excellence in English and is the second largest member of the Association of College Honor Societies.
“We are so pleased to have this plaque to share with campus and to display it for our students to enjoy. Honor societies like Sigma Tau Delta create a home for young people with their peers and offer a challenging environment where students can create long-lasting professional relationships during their college years,” said Dr. Gerard NeCastro, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. WLU’s chapter is known by the Greek letters, Omicron Nu.
Two student-members of the WLU chapter of the honor society, Natasha Muhametzyanova and Jennifer Hickman, represented the Hilltop at the March 21 – 24 international convention, held in Cincinnati, Ohio. The students accepted the plaque there and also competed in scholarly presentations.
“Sigma Tau Delta gives our students many opportunities to expand their experiences in academics and build their future careers and the convention is one of these opportunities. Our students get a chance to compete for internships and scholarships annually as well,” said English instructor Nicole Naegele, who has been the faculty sponsor of the WLU chapter since 2007.
Muhametzyanova presented a scholarly paper titled: “The Fate of A Woman in Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying” which focused on the issues of feminism and domesticity.
“I wrote this paper specifically for the Sigma Tau Delta convention last fall and found out that my paper was selected for presentation in December. That was a great Christmas present,” Muhametzyanova said.
Muhametzyanova is a senior Public Relations major with a double minor in literature and creative writing. This is the second English scholarly paper she presented this year.
“I was really inspired by the Modern and Postmodern Literature course and Women and Minority Writers class I took and in my writing I keep exploring the concepts of modernism and social activism those courses introduced,” Muhametzyanova said.
Hickman, who is a senior English and Psychology major, also represented WLU at the convention and enjoyed the opportunity to learn. “It was a great experience to see so many people passionate about their work,” Hickman said.
Founded at Dakota Wesleyan University, Sigma Tau Delta recognizes high achievement in English language and literature at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional studies level. With over 900 active chapters, Sigma Tau Delta estimates that it inducts approximately 9,000 members annually.
WLU’s English program is housed in the College of Liberal Arts, which includes the Department of Humanities, Department of Social Sciences, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, and the Department of Social Work. For more information, please call 1.866.937.8542 (WESTLIB) or visit westliberty.edu.