Eta Upsilon
Illinois State University
Winning photo, 2014 SDP Photo Contest
Since its reactivation in 2010, the Eta Upsilon chapter at Illinois State University has steadily grown with an induction ceremony every semester. Through the leadership and direction of our chapter advisor, Angela Bailey de las Heras, the Eta Upsilon chapter has grown to do our part in educating and serving throughout the community.
The 2013-2014 school year was incredibly successful and rewarding one for the Eta Upsilon chapter. The members worked with the local Children’s Discovery Museum to provide educational activities to children in the community in celebration of el DĂa de los Muertos. This program was later presented with the Registered Student Organization Award for Outstanding Collaborative Program through Illinois State University. We also began a new program with College Mentors for Kids through our Alumnos con tĂteres (ACT) program where we taught the cultural differences between el ratĂłn pĂ©rez and the tooth fairy. This project was funded through the Sigma Delta Pi Project Grant. We continued our collaboration with Benjamin Elementary School and provided bilingual twister de colores for the children while discussing the importance of second language acquisition with the parents.
The Eta Upsilon chapter has received many awards for our work both on campus and in the community. This is the second year that Eta Upsilon has achieved Honor Chapter status with the national honor society. Our chapter has also won the first and second annual Facebook photo contest, as well as the birthday cake photo contest to celebrate Sigma Delta Pi’s 94th birthday. This year as well, the Eta Upsilon chapter shared first place along with the Alpha Phi chapter at Texas Tech University for the 2014 Frida Kahlo award for outstanding website.
The accolades do not stop at the group alone. Our former president, Lydia Reitz, received the Legacy of Leadership (Graduate Student) Diversity Award this past spring. Member, Aric Faulkner, won the Student Partner in Diversity Award as well. Former webmaster Hillary Veitch received the prestigious Fulbright scholarship to teach English in South Korea for the next year. Photographer/historian Heather Carnahan represented the Eta Upsilon chapter of Sigma Delta Pi in Panama City, Panama this past July for the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) conference.
This year, the Eta Upsilon chapter is excited to bring the Pragda Spanish Film Festival to Illinois State and will be the first school in the state of Illinois to do so. We have collaborated with the Latino/a Studies Department, Alpha Psi Lambda, and Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures to bring this festival to the university in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.
Our chapter motto “de illusion también se vive” reminds us that life is not only about “getting there” but also about “dreaming of getting there.” And even when we do not quite get to the place we dream of, hope is what keeps us going and allows us to get anywhere at all. While this proverb is meant to be a consolation when life does not go our way, the Eta Upsilon chapter looks to it as a way to continue to dream, grow, and create new opportunities for our chapter, university, and community and we look forward to doing so in the years to come.