French honor society inducts new members

Elon’s chapter of the Pi Delta Phi French honor society hosted an April 30 induction ceremony welcoming 14 new members.  

Elon’s chapter of the French honor society, Pi Delta Phi, hosted an induction ceremony and dinner on April 30, recognizing the academic achievements of 14 new members.

Co-presidents, Olivia Brand ’18 and Shelly Colpitts ’18 greeted inductees and guests in French and talked about the history and purpose of the honor society.

The program was then turned over to faculty advisor Sophie Adamson, associate professor of French, who introduced guest speaker Sarra Eddahiri ’19, an international student from Tunisia.

Eddahiri, a public health studies and statistics double major with a minor in philosophy, spoke in French about her experiences as a Tunisian-Moroccan adolescent living in Tunisia during the Arab Spring in 2011.

As the recipient of Elon’s prestigious Leadership Prize, Eddahiri also talked about her current research project about the stigma around mental health and how it may be impacting college students in Tunisia where there are increased levels of stress in young adults. Her mentor Katherine Johnson, assistant professor of public health, was in attendance. Eddahiri highlighted the importance of speaking multiple languages because, through communication, one can help cultivate intercultural understandings across borders.

After Eddahiri’s talk, Brand and Colpitts led new members through the organization’s induction ritual and distributed certificates, pins, and honor cords.

Pi Delta Phi is the national French honor society for students at accredited public and private colleges and universities in the U.S. It was founded as a departmental honor society at the University of California at Berkeley in 1906, and it is now the highest academic honor in the field of French as well as the oldest academic honor society for a modern language in the U.S. 

Pi Delta Phi was nationalized in 1925, and it was endorsed by the American Association of Teachers of French in 1949 as the only collegiate national French honor society. Its purpose is to recognize outstanding scholarship in French and Francophone studies, to increase the knowledge and appreciation of Americans for the cultural contributions of the French-speaking world, and to stimulate and encourage French and Francophone cultural activities.

2018 Pi Delta Phi Inductees

Christopher Bertrand

Mae Corcoran

Jonathan Eves

Sam Gollub

Avery Jamison

Sara Machi

Grace McGuirk

Caleigh Pickett

Kate Pierson

Brandon Reynolds

April Roberts

Devon Rosenberger

Olivia Royer

Schuyler Wright