History of Sigma Tau Delta Sigma Tau Delta, the international English Honor Society, was founded by Professor Judson Q. Owen in 1924 at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, South Dakota. STD was established upon the principles of sincerity, truth and design. Hence, the society's name was chosen to represent the first letter of each of these three words. The central purpose of the society is to confer distinction upon outstanding students of the English language and literature in undergraduate, graduate and professional studies. History of the Delta Iota Chapter The Delta Iota (DI) chapter of Sigma Tau Delta (STD) began in 1964. In 1963, Dr. C. H. Dornbusch, a professor at Ohio Northern University (ONU), contacted the national chapter and told of the English department's interest of setting up a chapter. He received a reply from Judson Q. Owen, the national secretary, which expressed the honorary's pleasure at receiving a new chapter at ONU. With a starting fee of $20.00 per person, 32 members were inducted into the ONU Delta Iota chapter of Sigma Tau Delta. During the following years, Sigma Tau Delta was a professional, but inactive organization on the ONU campus. By 1990-91, however, Delta Iota Chapter was getting into full swing. With fifteen new inductees added to the standing membership, STD began to get active. One activity that was required (and still is) of all STD members was to submit two articles to the Northern Review, the campus newspaper, and one submission to Polaris, the campus literary magazine. The chapter also added a monthly colloquy where a student or professor presented a topic. Along with the colloquies, members attended lectures by guest speakers. Following this productive year, the 1991-92 members kept up the same projects and added a few more. One activity added was that the STD students would help coordinate an English department "mixer" for the new English majors. The organization also helped with the promotion of the guest speaker, Judith Viorst, and had a chance to meet with her. Another activity the chapter put together was a used book sale to raise money for a scholarship fund. The 1992-93 year was still active as STD became involved in the ONU women's book discussion group and continued helping with the department get-togethers. For the second year in a row, the chapter held a book sale. The following year brought many of the same activities, with one important addition: a tutoring program for the local high school. Unfortunately, the 1994-95 year brought Delta Iota chapter to its knees. After four years of steady success, only one member remained, and only eight new members were initiated in the spring. However, even in these dark times of low membership, STD managed to participate in campus charities, and even sent materials to a school teacher in Moldova through the Peace Corps. The next year looked bright with new members and increased activities. One of the major projects was to expand the tutoring at the local high school into a campus wide tutoring program. 1995-96 also brought a member who was a panel moderator at the regional conference in Wisconsin. In 1996-97, the chapter increased it's number of fundraising activities. One new fundraiser was selling corsages for parent's weekend and for the commencement ceremonies in the spring. Another fundraiser was an English department T-shirt sale. This year the chapter had a representative attend the national convention in Savannah. An updated version of the STD constitution began the 1997-98 school year. Many of the activities from the previous year were continued with great success. In 1998-99, Ann Donnelly became president. Through her efforts and those of other students, the chapter was able to apply for the Outstanding Chapter Award for the first time in it's history. This year was also unique in that five students and the faculty advisor were fortunate enough to attend the 75th anniversary national convention in St. Louis. One member, Matthew Rolf, read some of his creative writing, and Stephanie Ingram participated as a roving reporter for the national office. This year also boosted the numbers of Delta Iota when 14 new members were inducted in the spring. The recent history of Delta Iota is now being researched and will be posted when it is complete. Thank you for you patience. Delta Iota has continually maintained a strong presence on the campus of Ohio Northern. The chapter has annually helped to host nationally-acclaimed authors that speak on campus. Some of the authors brought to Ohio Northern include John Updike, Joyce Carol Oates, John Edgar Wideman, Aphrodite Jones, Simon Ortiz, and Naomi Shihab Nye. The chapter also assists in acclimating incoming English students to the university and helps inform prospective students about being an English major at Ohio Northern. Moreover, Delta Iota has continually been involved in the local community. Chapter members annually donate their time to mentor Ada Elementary students and tutor the children in need of help. Recently, with the influx of more English students in the university, Delta Iota has seen an increase in its membership. The chapter initiated 19 new members in the spring of 2005 and hopes that with this large rise in membership, it can be an even greater presence on the campus of Ohio Northern and the surrounding community in the years to come.