National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society Inducts 28 new Members at TAMIU

Texas A&M International University recently inducted 28 members into its brand new chapter of the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society.

Phi Xi, as the TAMIU chapter is known, now includes 23 students and five honorary members who are teachers in Laredo and neighboring areas who have demonstrated a commitment to the teaching of Spanish-language literature and culture.

The founding members of Phi Xi include Maira Alvarez, Priscilla Arias, Jorge Félix Bahena, Gabriela Elizabeth Cortés, Adela González, Janet Gutiérrez, Sandra Aydee Gutiérrez, Emma López, Esperanza Maldonado, Linda Lee Ramón, Lidia Rivas, and Elva Rodríguez.

Also inducted were Franciso J. Cázares, Yolanda García, Blanca Lilia González, Mauricio Javier González, Rafael Reynolds Huacuja, Ana Cristina Martínez, Joseph Arthur Monahan, Ana María Montoya, Norma Mendiola, Ramón Talavera, and Blanca Yruegas.

Honorary members include Dr. Ezra Engling, Dr. Ray M. Keck III, William J. Nichols, María D. Orellano-Pérez and Florencia Saavedra.

Also known in Spanish as La Sociedad Nacional Honoraria Hispánica, the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society was established in 1919 at the University of California in Berkeley. The Society has over 500 chapters nationwide and almost all state universities have chapters.

The honor of active membership is bestowed upon undergraduates with a grade point average of 3.0 or better in at least three junior-level courses in Spanish, and graduate students with a GPA of 3.0 or better in at least two graduate-level courses.

Phi Xi operates under the guidance of Dr. Ezra Engling, professor of Spanish.

Other universities with Sigma Delta Pi chapters include Stanford University, Brown University, The Citadel, Texas Christian University, Brigham Young University, College of William and Mary, Howard University, the Catholic University of America, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Southern Methodist University, Baruch College-City University of New York, the University of Hawaii and Oral Roberts University.

For further information, please contact Dr. Engling at 326-2648, e-mail engling@tamiu.edu or visit offices located in the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library, room 435B. University office hours are 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.