While adults typically tell you to watch out for STDs when you go to college, you may actually want to catch this one. We’re the Sigma Tau Delta English Honors Society chapter at UP, and we’re a group of hard-working English majors whose love of literature inspires our social life. Although we are brand new to campus, we are utilizing this club as an opportunity to, essentially, nerd-out in our obsession with the written, spoken, and heard word. We spent our first meeting this semester sharing what we read over break, laughing at the antics that happen in the English courses we share (Dr. Asarnow, what will we possibly do without you?!), and organizing our array of events. These events include weekend poetry slams and author readings as a group, and a Powell’s scavenger hunt.
However, our group combines this lit. love with the signature UP drive for social justice. In the works presently is a weekly visit to elementary schools through the educational organization, S.M.A.R.T. (Start Making A Reader Today), where we will read to children as a means of encouraging their literacy. As well, we’re looking into taking part in the Reading Fair held in March in the Chiles center. What better way to invigorate your spirit than a group of bright-eyed kids and, for instance, Where the Wild Things Are?
Yet as classic literature enthusiasts, we’re looking beyond what we see. As one of our group members, Will Lyons, reflected, “I want to make writers less anonymous on campus.” We want to discover the hidden literary talents on campus and possibly profile them. Whether this profile of student writers becomes a video or written collaboration, we idealize the student body becoming more aware of literary skills beyond the humanities department. Reading, writing, and reflective thinking isn’t an “English major thing,” it’s a human thing, and we want to make that more evident. So here we go, STD swarming the Bluff!