Midland College English honor society students receive national recognitionApril 06, 2023

Midland College (MC) students Abigail Hightower, Brycie Tamayo and Sadie Fuentes attended the Sigma Tau Delta National Convention in Denver, CO on March 30-April 1, 2023.  Sigma Tau Delta is the national English Honor Society for four-year universities, and the three students are members of the MC Zeta Epsilon Chapter of Sigma Kappa Delta (SKD), which is the community college equivalent.  MC English Professors and club advisors Stacy and Brendan Egan traveled with the students.

Abigail Hightower was one of only four students out of 152 SKD chapters nationwide chosen to present at the roundtable panel during the annual convention.  This is the second consecutive year that MC has had representation on the SKD roundtable panel.

Brycie Tamayo and Sadie Fuentes presented creative nonfiction on panels that included student and alumni presenters from both two- and four-year colleges and universities.  Out of hundreds of presentations at the annual conference, only ten Sigma Kappa Delta members were chosen to present.  Tamayo presented “How Did I Get Here?” and Fuentes presented “My Experience with the Coronavirus Outbreak.”  Tamayo also chaired a creative nonfiction panel titled “Is Anybody Out There?”  This was Tamayo’s second consecutive year presenting at the convention.

"We are so very proud of all our SKD members, but it is especially a joy to watch them present among university students and alumni and speak so eloquently and represent Midland College,” Stacy Egan said. “We are especially thankful to the administration of Midland College and secretaries Lula Lee and Becky Urquidez for going above and beyond to make sure our students have this professional, life-changing opportunity." 

Husband and wife English Professors Stacy and Brendan Egan have been advising Sigma Kappa Delta at MC for ten years.  On Friday, April 21 at 7:00 pm, they will host a formal induction ceremony in the Allison Fine Arts Building Wagner & Brown Auditorium.  Twenty-eight MC students will be inducted into SKD:  Jayne Bauer, Carlos Estrada, Alexandria Rubalcava Gallegos, Paula Garcia, Ana Gomez, Sydney Jones, Jayden Lane, Nathan Nash, Francisco Sanchez, Lian Thawng and (from the Fall Sigma class): Precious Bamidele, Johana Barrientos Mata, Stephanie Barron, Jeanna Cuny, Brenda De La Rosa, Adrienne Gonzalez, Abigail Hightower, Sarah Hnem, Pete Liles, Chantel Mathes, Devon Murphy. Tamara Pando, Kayla Pix, Lia Ramos, Stacy Salazar, Ke'Anue Simmons, Serenity Soliz and Natalie Stefaniak. Club officers are Marissa Zarate (President) and Jeanna Cuny (Secretary).

The Egans also invite students and the community to a Poetry Open Mic Night next Thursday, April 13, at 7:00 pm in the Fasken Learning Resource Center.  

Photo:   Midland College students and advisors at Sigma Tau Delta National Convention awards luncheon.  Front row, left to right, Abigail Hightower, Sadie Fuentes, and Brycie Tamayo. Back row, advisers Brendan and Stacy Egan.