MSAC WALTON SCHOLARS CHINESE STUDENTS Multi-Cultural Student Action Committee est. 1999: Row 1: B. Gardner (sponsor), L. Hatley, J. Paul, L. Rambo, S. lnabnet, M. Hogan, A. Flewellen. Est. 1985: Row 1: D. Herrate, S. Ruiz, A. Villafuerte, E. Diaz, L. Soza. Row 2: A. Jimenez, J. Portillo, H. Mejia, H. Alfaro, D. Castillo, B. Jacobo, H. Gonzalez. Row 3: A. Matamoros, J. Constantino, M. Martinez, K. Lujan, C. Romero, E. Vasquez, B. Go:izalez, D. Oliva. Row 4: C. Ceren, A. Rojas, L. Padilla, I. Racine, C. Ledesma, M. Gomez, P. Baca, M. Tercero, K. Rosales, S. Ayestas, S. Castellar, M. Maria. Row 5: J. Ruiz, M. Medrano, K. Vergas, F. Flores, C. Andrade, M. Bedolla, F. Bonilla. Row 6: D. Bouche, E. Lopez, J. Paredes, L. Chinchilla, E. Hernandez, M. Larin, T. Salgado, S. Amadeus. Row 7: F. Rivera, A. Guido, E. De La Cruz, M. Bolin (sponsor). Row 8: N. Boyd (sponsor), R. Gavidia, M. Lutin, J. Castro, M. Barrantes, M. Castro, A. Pira, F. Vargas. Row 9: J. Cordero, D. Perez. Chinese Students and Scholars Association est. 2004: Row 1: Y. He, H. Sun, H. Wang, X. Zhang, Y. Zhao, N. Li, S. Rao, A. Fan, Y. Sun. Row 2: J. Chen (sponsor), X. Zhang, H. Yu, Y. Xia, Y. Tian, F. Wu, F. Yang, L. Xiong, J. Qiao, Q. Zhao. Row 3: Y. Wang, H. Chen, X. Ling (sponsor). Row 4: X. Ding, J. An, H. Liang, Y. Lyu, S. Cheng, S. Ou, Y. Liu, R. Li, Z. Guo, J. Li. Row 5: X. Liu, Z. Wu, J. Li, J. Lin, Y. Gan, Y. Deng, J. Lin, D. Li, M. Huang, J. Du, Z. Chen. Row 6: K. Li, J. Zhang, Y. Chen, J. Kuang, M. Wu, P. Liao, X. Yang, Z. Tan, Y. Chen, J. Jiang. REC OGNITIO N SOCIETY HONORS STUDENT SUCCESS H arding was founded as a community of mission and of academic excellence. That excellence extended to the foreign language department in the spring. The 265th chapter of Phi Sigma Iota, Chi Nu 265 was established on April 21 and was dedicated to promoting foreign languages and encouraging students on campus to be involved. Ava Conley, Spanish professor and chair of the language department, described the rigorous application process to establish a chapter. "Phi Sigma Iota is an international community with chapters in the United States, France and Mexico," Conley said. "We had to provide a detailed description of our curriculum and objectives of the department to even be considered. Then after our application was accepted, acceptance would only be approved after our application was put to a vote of all existing chapters." More than two-thirds of the chapters around the world accepted the application, and Harding's chapter was inducted following aformal ceremony. The ceremony was hosted students and by representatives from the faculty, who spoke about the importance and relevance of English as a second language, Latin, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Chinese, Russian and Italian. Ten faculty members and 29 charter student members were inducted during the ceremony. Assistant Professor of Spanish Michelle Coizman was honored to be a part of the history of the language department by participating in PSI. "Phi Sigma Iota is such an honor, and many of our students deserve to be recognized," Coizman said. "Our department has always been like a family, and our chapter of PSI is an extension of that family." Founded in 1922 at the Allegheny College in Meadville, Penn., PSI was created at the same time as Alpha Chi Honor Society and established a reputation of prestige, professional benefits and scholarships for all members. "Membership in the society carries with it access to special job searches, scholarships and an advanced GS rating for qualifying government jobs," Conley said. "The simplest way to describe it would be a career boosting opportunity. To be inducted, students must have a 3.5 GPA in their language courses and an overall 3.0 GPA." PSI recognized outstanding accomplishment in the study or teaching of any of the academic fields related to foreign language, literature or culture. These fields included not only modern foreign languages, but also classics, linguistics, philology, comparative literature, bilingual education, second language acquisition and other interdisciplinary programs with a significant foreign language component. According to inductee senior French and English double major Elise Moore, PSI established connections with people working professionally in foreign languages and gave the foreign language students the opportunity to benefit the school. "The honor society will help integrate the department into the greater community of foreign language higher education, as Phi Sigma Iota is an international academic society," Moore said. "I also think it will give our department a unified voice here at Harding, a chance to speak up and contribute to enhancing the university alongside other departments." Landis Tindell
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