There are many honor societies on UTM’s campus, but rarely do any of them stand out time and time again.

Sigma Tau Delta, the English Honor Society, is a relatively unknown organization on this campus that does just that. Sigma Tau Delta, composed of around 25 members, has been at UTM for a little over 10 years.

With Dr. Heidi Huse recently becoming their academic adviser, the society has been expanding rapidly and is expected to continue on that track. The society is open to English majors and minors and also to those just interested in literature.

While they carry on the duties of regular societies, such as meetings, they also strive to make a mark in the Martin community. To stay a national chapter, Sigma Tau Delta must do five service projects each year.

Senior English minor Lillie Brewer said, “It’s not that we are forced to do the projects, they are something we look forward to every year. We usually have a hard time narrowing down the list of activities we want to accomplish in a year’s time.”

In the past few years, Sigma Tau Delta has done projects such as Adopt-A-Soldier, reading Halloween books at local libraries and hosting writing projects for local school children. Three new projects that Sigma Tau Delta has taken on this year is a Halloween reading for elementary school children.

Their second project is sponsoring a Thanksgiving writing contest for children from 2nd-7th grade. Each student will be able to write a one-page story on a Thanksgiving-themed topic and submit it. The stories will be judged. Sigma Tau Delta will then host a reading where the winners will be able to present their works and also be given a printed and bound copy of their work. The society will also have other printed and bound copies for sale, and will turn around and use the proceeds to buy books for the childrens’ school library.

The other current community service project is helping Fulton City School 4th, 8th, and 12th graders by assessing their essays written for their English portfolios. The members of Sigma Tau Delta will make one-on-one relationships with these children by helping them learn, making them feel like someone really cares about their future and give them hope for tasks they are now completing in school. The care and compassion of just a few has already helped so many.

Sigma Tau Delta exemplifies everything an honors society should be. Not only have they helped the community grow, they themselves have grown.

Senior Secretary Ashley Ragon said, “Sigma Tau Delta has allowed me to grow as a person through doing services for those in the community who have helped UTM and Martin for so many years.”

For more information about Sigma Tau Delta contact Dr. Heidi Huse at 881-7300 or hhuse@utm.edu.