Sigma Delta Pi, the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society, was founded on November 14, 1919, at the University of California, Berkeley by a junior undergraduate student named Ruth Helen Barnes. Later that same academic year, on May 1, 1920, the first formal induction ceremony was conducted. On January 1, 2019, Sigma Delta Pi launched a centennial commemoration that concluded on July 29, 2020 with the Society’s first-ever virtual awards reception held via Zoom. The 19-month centennial celebration featured numerous initiatives and projects that highlighted Sigma Delta Pi’s 100-year history.
Each new member initiated during the 2019 calendar year received a special commemorative membership pin of the design posted above. Existing members of Sigma Delta Pi may also purchase this same pin, while supplies last, for the cost of $10 through their home chapters.
During the entire year of 2020, and to commemorate Sigma Delta Pi’s first formal induction ceremony on May 1, 1920 in Berkeley, CA, all new members received the Ruth Barnes’ commemorative pin that replicates the original presented to founding members. Existing members may also purchase this same replica, while supplies last, for the cost of $10 through their home chapters.
In April 2020 and to commemorate the Society’s first 100 years, the College of Charleston’s Mark P. Del Mastro published an updated history of the organization: Sigma Delta Pi: Rediscovering a Century, 1919-2019 with Juan de la Cuesta Hispanic Monographs. Although the book is available directly through Amazon, special signed copies may be purchased from Sigma Delta Pi’s national headquarters (click here to order). If you missed the May 1, 2020 Facebook Live reading by the author of select chapters from this book, the recording is found at “Reading from Sigma Delta Pi’s New History Book”(click here).
While preparing this tome, Del Mastro also published multiple notes that highlight select aspects of Sigma Delta Pi’s collaboration during its history:
“Reflections on a Common Past: MIFLA and Sigma Delta Pi,”
MIFLC Review 9 (Fall 2018-2019): 1-5.
“Sigma Delta Pi y la ANLE: Historias y protagonistas,”
Glosas 9.7 (September 2019): 63-66.
“Sigma Delta Pi and the AATSP: A Shared Century of Leadership and Collaboration,”
Hispania 102.1 (March 2019): 5-7.
“Sigma Delta Pi, La Sociedad Nacional Honoraria Hispánica: El Centenario 1919-2019,”
The 2nd World Conference on University Researchers (WCUR).
The Vellum Page & Downhill Publishing, 2019, 15-18.
The University of Maine published a brief article about Del Mastro’s research for this book:
“The Missing Volumes,”
Raymond E. Fogler Library Magazine, 2019, 17-18.
Also to commemorate Sigma Delta Pi’s centennial, Del Mastro organized a “Sigma Delta Pi History Panel” that was accepted and scheduled for presentation at the AATSP’s 102nd Annual Conference in Puerto Rico in July 2020. Because of the conference’s postponement due to COVID-19, in early June 2020 participants recorded their respective presentations (click here to view the virtual panel).