Sigma Delta Pi, National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society
CofC's national-award-winning Nu Zeta Chapter of Sigma Delta Pi, the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society, holds an Induction Ceremony each spring and fall. The completed application and supporting materials (electronic copy of your academic transcript downloaded from MyCharleston) must be submitted to Professor Devon Hanahan via email (hanahand@cofc.edu).
Founded at the University of California Berkeley on November 14, 1919 by an undergraduate student named Ruth Barnes, Sigma Delta Pi, La Sociedad Nacional Honoraria Hispánica/National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society, is the largest foreign language honor society for college students in the U.S. with over 620 chapters nationwide. The Society's insignia is the Spanish royal seal of Fernando and Isabel, representing Castille, León and Aragón; its colors are red and yellow gold, its flower is the red carnation, and its motto is the Greek phrase "Spanías Didagéi Proágomen" meaning "Let's go/continue forth under the teaching/guidance of the Spanish language."
Membership requirements for undergraduate students:- Completion of at least three semesters of college course work.
- Completion of at least 18 semester hours of college-level Spanish or the equivalent, including at least three semester hours of a third-year literature or civilization and culture course (i.e. 300-level or higher) at the College of Charleston.
- A grade average of B or better in all college-level Spanish courses completed.
- A cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or better in all college courses completed.
- Completion of at least two graduate courses in Spanish with an average that supports eligibility for a graduate degree.
In addition to academic excellence, candidates for membership must also demonstrate a keen interest in the Spanish language and a desire and commitment to promote the study of Hispanic language, literature and culture.
Graduating members of the Nu Zeta Chapter of Sigma Delta Pi who still maintain the above academic qualifications for new members will be given complimentary honor cords in a special ceremony prior to graduation. To qualify for honor cords, an updated degree audit in pdf format must be sent to the chapter advisers for review.
Induction ceremonies are held each year in Fall and Spring semesters.
2022-23 Faculty Advisors:
Prof. Devon Hanahan
Dr. David Dulceany
Student Officers:
President: Amanda Craig
Vice preseident: Molly Moloney
Secretary-Treasurer: Eve Alexander
Graduate Student Liaison: Dr. Emily Beck
Follow our Facebook page for chapter news and events.
The College of Charleston's Nu Zeta Chapter (#318) of Sigma Delta Pi was installed on November 21, 1977 by Professor Fleming G. Vinson, Associate Professor of Spanish and Italian, with the induction of four charter members. Nu Zeta has since remained very active not only with annual inductions of new members, but also with numerous national distinctions to include student winners of both Sigma Delta Pi's national scholarship competition and the Gabriela Mistral Award.
Under the direction of faculty advisers Drs. Marianne Verlinden, Carmen Grace, Susan Divine, Mark Del Mastro, Falcon Restrepo-Ramos, and student presidents Dylan Kornegay (Spanish 2011), Hannah Stevens (Spanish 2012), Julie King (Spanish 2013), Jocelyn Moratzka (Spanish 2014), Adriana Bonasorte (Spanish 2015), Olivia Ghiz (Spanish 2016) Maya Novák-Cogdell (Spanish 2017), Adriana Velasquez (Spanish 2019), and Isabel Del Mastro (2021), Nu Zeta has received 9 Honor Chapter distinctions (2011-17, 2019, 2021), an award granted yearly to only 10-15 of the most outstanding chapters nationwide.
In addition, the chapter earned the Octavio Paz Award in both 2013 and 2016 for earning the Honor Chapter distinction for each year during the corresponding triennium.
Since July 1, 2010, the Department of Hispanic Studies at the College of Charleston is proud to be the location of the national headquarters of Sigma Delta Pi with Dr. Mark P. Del Mastro serving as the Executive Director.