Delta Chi
Montclair State University
La Junta Directiva de Delta Chi
Sigma Delta Pi, the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society, came to Montclair State University–at that time Montclair State College–in the early 1960s. The names associated with the early years of Chapter Delta Chi are Professors Clara Barbeito, Rivera Rivera, and Sara Prieto. After the 1970s, among the mentors and advisors of Sigma Delta Pi, the following members of Montclair’s Spanish faculty included: Professors Janet Susie, Jo Anne Engelbert, Ana Rambaldo and Linda Gould Levine. By the late 1980s and early 1990s, Professors Carmen Alverio and Diana Guemárez Cruz had the honor of serving as faculty advisors of the chapter. In 1993-97, Professor Valentín Soto was elected faculty advisor of Sigma Delta Pi, and he was followed in subsequent years by Professors Edwin Lamboy (1997-2002), Anne Edstrom (2002-07), Marta López Luaces (2007-08), and then Dr. Soto returned to the advisorship in 2008.
Delta Chi has been a meeting place for the best students in Montclair State’s Department of Spanish and Italian. Some of these students left Montclair to pursue graduate studies at institutions such as the University of Arizona at Tempe, UCLA, Ohio State, Boston College, John Hopkins, Berkeley, Boston University, New York University, Stony Brook University, Temple and Columbia, among others. Past Chapter Delta Chi presidents include Patricia Fakina (1993-94), Edith Ticona (1994-95), Nancy Miranda (1995-96), Manuela Santos (1996-97), Úrsula Solis (1997-98), Seneida Valladares (1998-99), Susan Polise (2000-2001), Esther Gross (2002-03), Mónica Simal (2003-04), Cristina San Román (2004-05), Vicky Santana (2005-06), Gabriel Mena (2006-07), Fiorella Saraceno (2007-08), Norma Elena Rodríguez (2008-09), Odalis Hidalgo (2009-10) and Joanna Montoya, recently elected president for the academic year 2010-11.
In 2001, Chapter Delta Chi was recognized with an award for its activities with the academic community. At that time, the chapter president was Susan Polise, currently a doctorate candidate at Columbia University; the faculty advisor was Professor Edwin Lamboy. This past summer, Delta Chi received the prestigious Ignacio and Sophie Galbis Award, presented annually to the most outstanding chapter nationwide for activities realized during the academic year.
Montclair’s chapter reached a new level of activity in 2009-2010. The Executive Board was comprised of a group of the most dynamic students in the department: President Odalis Hidalgo, Vice President Vannie Hamilton, Recording Secretary Norma Elena Rodríguez, Communications Secretary Gina M. Román, Treasurer Julia Elena Crompton, Finance Secretary Judith Paz, and members Flor María Pagano, Tania L. Sáez and Maribel Tarrillo. During two long semesters, four students of the Executive Board (President Odalis Hidalgo, Vice President Vannie Hamilton, Recording Secretary Norma Elena Rodríguez, and Communications Secretary Gina M. Román), launched a tutorial program that has proven to be one of the most important assets of Delta Chi. The tutors of Sigma Delta Pi are skilled in all areas of language courses including conversation, grammar, phonology and phonetics, composition and stylistics, as well as in culture, civilization and literature. In fact, the tutorial program has already been organized for the 2010-11 academic year, and during only the second week of classes, Delta Chi already counted eight to ten of their best students offering voluntary work in the tutorial program.
Delta Chi was also asked to assist non-native speakers of Spanish prepare for the oral proficiency exam (OPI) they must pass to be certified teachers in the State of New Jersey. Montclair’s chapter is proud to serve the academic community in this and other ways as it plans to expand its services to neighboring and adjacent communities of the university.
Also notable in 2009-10 was Montclair’s participation in five cultural events organized by the department: “Youngsters and Literature” with the Spanish writers Care Santos and Susana Vallejo (in Spanish with the assistance of Professor Marta López Luaces); “A Bilingual Reading by Latin American Poets” with Eduardo Mitre and Mercedes Roffé (in Spanish and English with students specializing in Translation and organized by Professor Marta López Luaces); “Peter Bush and His New Translation of La Celestina” (in English cosponsored with the Department of Spanish and Italian and the Center for Global Education); the screening of the Spanish film ¡Ay, Carmela!, followed by “Literature and the Spanish Civil War” with Spanish writers José Ovejero and Fernando Rayuela (in Spanish co-sponsored by America Reads Spanish); and, co- sponsored with the Coccia Institute and the Department of Spanish and Italian, a concert of Italian and Spanish songs and arias performed by students and professors of the Montclair State University John J. Cali School of Music. The Executive Board of Montclair’s chapter participated either as organizers and/or co-sponsors of these events. In “A Bilingual Reading by Latin American Poets”, for example, Vice President Vannie Hamilton was in charge of the introduction, and Communications Secretary Gina Román was the moderator of the panel.
Los nuevos miembros de Delta Chi el 15 de abril de 2010.
Another noteworthy achievement was the creation of the chapter’s web page. Professor Enza Antenos-Conforti of the Italian Section of the Department of Spanish and Italian was in charge of the preparation and design.
Delta Chi also acknowledges Professors Diana Guemárez Cruz, Rogelio Zapata, Director of the Graduate Program in Spanish, and María José García Vizcaíno, Director of the Translation Program, all of whom worked with chapter members and assisted with various projects during the academic year 2009-10.
The newly elected chapter board for the 2010-11 academic year includes the following members: President Joanna Montoya, Vice President Ana Cecilia Rivadeneira, Communications Secretary Paula Parada, Public Relations Secretary Vannie Hamilton, Treasurer Julia Elena Crompton, Chair for Literary and Cultural Affairs Juan Esteban Villegas, Chair of the Advisory Board Odalis Hidalgo, Board member Amelia Bucklew, and Faculty Advisor Professor Valentín Soto.
Finally, Montclair’s chapter established the following agenda for 2010-11: to begin plans for a biannual New Jersey Spanish Teachers Conference; to broaden the tutorial program started in 2009-10; to invite to Montclair State University the New York City based theater company Repertorio Español; to publish a regular column in the students’ newspaper The Montclarion; to organize, participate or co-sponsor several cultural and literary events; to broaden the chapter’s presence on the Internet through its web page and the creation of a discussion forum on the usage of controversial Spanish terms; to contact Spanish and Latin American institutions and consulates in the NYC metropolitan area to stage cultural and literary activities at Montclair; to launch a Book and Cultural Fair; to assist the establishment of more Sigma Delta Pi chapters in New Jersey; to devise methods to attract more non-Spanish speakers to become interested in the study of our language and cultures; to establish Montclair State University as an attractive Hispanic educational center that draws the surrounding and adjacent communities to study Hispanic language, culture and civilization at Montclair.