Transfer students form a new club

Members of the Tau Sigma National Honor Society held their induction ceremony at the Innovation Center. Photo Courtesy of Shari Hamilton
Members of the Tau Sigma National Honor Society held their induction ceremony at the Innovation Center. Photo Courtesy of Shari Hamilton
Members of the Tau Sigma National Honor Society held their induction ceremony at the Innovation Center.
Photo Courtesy of Shari Hamilton

By Victoria Krukenkamp
Managing Editor

The Tau Sigma National Honor Society was introduced to the ESU community this year by faculty advisor Dr. Jack Truschel.

Led by newly elected president, Shari Hamilton, the club achieved official recognition by the Student Activity Association in January 2014, and inducted its inaugural class at the Innovation Center on Friday, April 11, 2014.

“There was a need to fill a void for transfer students at ESU. They needed to be recognized for their academic achievement and their ability to contribute to the core values of ESU as members of the community through a commitment to service and leadership,” said Hamilton.

Tau Sigma’s mission is to “recognize and promote the academic excellence and involvement of transfer students.”

Truschel began recruiting new members during the summer of 2013 via mail.

Following the invitation to join, members were encouraged to attend meetings to establish club leadership and draft the   club bylaws and constitution.

Because Tau Sigma is an academic honor society, a student must meet certain qualifications to be invited to join.

The student must have transferred to ESU with at least one full year of credits from another academic institution, and he or she must be registered in a bachelor’s degree program with at least an average of 12 credit hours.

Membership is offered to transfer students based on their first semester at ESU, where they must achieve at least a 3.5 GPA.

Officers were elected last fall, resulting in Shari Hamilton as president, Kristen Lilly as Vice-President, Victoria Stella as Secretary, and Jeremy Esbin as Treasurer.

Tau Sigma has philanthropic obligations they were excited to fulfill.

Leading up to final exams last semester, the club held a “Blanket and Towel Drive” to collect these items for AWSOM animal shelter.

The students were pleased with the results of their efforts, and were especially glad in their choice of charity after the winter that plagued the Poconos this year.

“The drive was a great success, was timely, and was well appreciated given the extreme cold weather this past winter,” said Hamilton.

For the coming year, Tau Sigma plans to contribute to The United Way.

“Next year will bring us the goals of adopting our mentoring program, Adopt A Block, a car wash and several bake sales already on the calendar with the objective of a respectable donation to The United Way of Monroe County,” said Hamilton.

In the future, Tau Sigma’s induction ceremony will be in the fall; however, this semester boasted the inaugural class and required the ceremony to take place in the spring. They raised funds for this years ceremony.

“Members take an oath and then receive a certificate of lifetime membership from the national chapter, a chapter pin, and honor cords for graduation,” said Hamilton.

President Welsh and Provost Reidhead attended the ceremony on April 11, and addressed the 13 inductees in attendance.

Email Victoria at:
vkrukenkam@live.esu.edu