There are numerous benefits to becoming a member of Sigma Tau Delta, including internship and scholarship availability, the chance to publish work in ∑T∆'s two literary journals, access to their international convention and the opportunity to increase your starting salary if working in the Federal Service field after graduation.
IF YOU ARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR MEMBERSHIP YET - YOU CAN RUSH!
Rush members are students who are considering joining. All prospective members of the Chapman community are welcome to participate in our events unless otherwise stated as "Members Only."
*Induction happens at the end of the Spring Semester. Rush Group may apply for membership before then, but their induction ceremony and initiation will not happen until then. As long as you have turned in your paperwork and fee for membership, we count you as a full member of the Society and our Chapter.
How Do I Become a Member?:
Check If You Qualify: Membership is available to undergraduate and graduate students currently enrolled at a college or university with an active Sigma Tau Delta chapter. At Chapman University, students must either be majoring or minoring in English, or one of its specializations, to become a member.
Candidates for undergraduate membership must:
Have a minimum of two college courses in English language or literature beyond the usual requirements in freshman English.
Have a minimum of a B or equivalent average in English. In general scholarship, you must rank in the top thirty-five percent of your class (i.e. have an overall B average in general scholarship — 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale).
Have a minimum of three semesters in college.
Candidates for graduate membership must:
Be enrolled in a graduate program in English, or one of its specializations
Have completed or be enrolled in six semester hours of graduate work
Have a minimum grade point average of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale from either graduate work or, if six semester hours have not been completed, a GPA of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale from the undergraduate transcript.
Potential members must print and fill out an application. Once completed, they must submit the application to Professor Mildred Lewis. (There is a downloadable application at the bottom of this page.)
Once you have been accepted into the society, you must pay a one-time chapter fee of $45 for lifetime membership online, here. If you have questions or would like to request to waive the fees, please see Professor Lewis.
(For Graduate Students Only) MFA graduate students (not dual-degree candidates) must also include an unofficial copy of their transcript, printed out from their My.Chapman account. If you are a first-semester MFA student, please include an unofficial copy of your undergraduate transcript.
You must attend at least 5 meetings per semester to remain a member of our chapter (not the society).
If you lose your membership to the chapter and wish to regain membership status, you must pay a $15 fee.
Each time you lose your membership status and wish to regain membership status again, you must pay the $15 fee.
If you are rushing, but not eligible for membership yet, your dues are $5 per year.
This money goes to help pay for our chapter to do all the fun stuff that we host as well as helps pay for students to attend the convention and conferences later in the year.
We hope you will be able to participate in all our events but we understand that college students have many things to focus on and that is why we don't make all of our events mandatory.
Here are some of the things we do offer for you both to bolster your résumé/curriculum vitae and for fun:
Scholarship
Opportunities with ΣΤΔ include applying for scholarships and submitting papers for publication and the annual convention. The convention is a place where students from more than 800 active chapters come together to present papers. The convention is also a great way to enhance your résumé or CV.
Service
Our chapter organized and participated in Read Across America event in March 2009 benefitting a local elementary school. About 20 members donated their time and efforts to the event and we hope to make it an annual tradition. We also have started working with Better World Books to hold a book drive each semester. Check out our service page for more information. Currently, our chapter is working to promote and participate in various activities like WordTheatre and Tabula Poetica.
Social
We try to offer several activities on- and off-campus and so that members can get to know each other and make connections. We frequently sponsor Broadway theatre events so both chapter members and other Chapman students can receive group discount tickets. We also publicize readings and other literary events in keeping with the society's mission statement. We encourage members to suggest interesting literary-themed events or functions that they'd like to see us participate in or publicize. See our current events page for more information.
We send out e-mails regularly and update our website frequently to let members know what’s going on so that they can choose when they would like to participate.
Your Induction Ceremony is a required event. If you cannot attend, you must notify your chapter president at least a week before hand so that other arrangements can be made to induct you into the chapter.