This video, tilted Sigma Tau Delta Induction Ceremony, was held in the Isabella Cannon Room on October 30, 2017. Sigma Tau Delta, International English Honor Society, was founded in 1924 at Dakota Wesleyan University. President Leo M. Lambert spoke about being inducted into Sigma Tau Delta in his undergraduate days. 00:00:49 00:01:24 Lambert told a joke about a social fraternity on his campus with a similar name as the honor society of Sigma Tau Delta. 00:01:38 Lambert stated, “I want to offer my warmest congratulations to students upon your induction into Sigma Tau Delta. Your membership into this society is a significant honor and speaks to your commitment to excellence, which is a way of approaching life with meaning and purpose. I am proud of you all. 00:02:02 I have two main messages to deliver tonight. They are first to speak against the increasingly narrow way America society thinks about the purposes of higher education. And second, I want to express concern about a lousy job that we in the academy are doing in counter-acting messages in media and throughout society that the humanities are impractical. 00:02:44 I understand higher education is expensive and the people who pay the bills for college, and especially students and parents, want to see great outcomes like good jobs and opportunities for advanced degrees. I join them in that expectation. But I cannot forget that education is about so much more-- like preparation for citizenship, and the encouragement of love of knowledge for its own sake, and appreciation for what is beautiful, or wonderfully complex, or true. 00:03:29 But increasingly and worryingly, the message that too many students are receiving about university education is reduced to-- you need to get a job, so be sure to major in something practical, like business. What is being left out of these short-side considerations are important questions. For example, what subject are students passionately curious about? What are students’ goals? What are the most interesting and distinctive paths that students can take to reach these goals? You are English majors, so I do not have to explain to you what narrative is. My hope for each of you is that you will have a polished draft of your own bold personal narrative before you leave Elon. And it will be built upon exposure to a broad array of challenging academics, rich experiences in the world, deep reflection, and linked to your passions, dreams, and your most heartfelt goals. 00:05:00 Frankly, it really does not matter what your major is. We of course have a bias towards English and reading, literature, writing, all those good things. But, what really matters is that you are the author of your own story. And you can tell that story with passion and conviction. And hopefully, your story links to goals you will pursue after leaving Elon that will be meaningful and compelling to you and also make our society a better place. I meet students and alumni every day who are doing amazing and creative work, stemming from their backgrounds in the humanities, and are often finding ways to bring multiple disciplines together in novel and powerful ways. 00:06:03 Last spring, I interviewed Lucy Crenshaw for a Lumen prize. Lucy is a double major in Classical Studies and Accounting. What impressed me about her interview was that she was so fully aware, as a sophomore, how a deep grounding in the humanities would make her a much better public accountant. 00:06:28 When you work for a big firm, you have to understand much more than the numbers. You need to be able to decipher complex organizations, understand why systems or processes break down sometimes, to know how to read people, and to write extraordinary well. 00:06:51 I think a background in English humanities is perfect in preparation for such complex work and leadership with organizations. 00:07:01 I had coffee in Los Angeles, California with Amy Good, Class of 2014, who came to Elon as a history major. She knew that she did not want to teach, but her parents encouraged her to pursue her passion, history. She is a research manager in L.A. CA., a very interesting business consulting company. Amy told me it was the perspectives that she bought to the table as a history major that made her perspective on her research team unique and valuable.” 00:08:00 Lambert continued to talk about other (alumni) meetings, emphasizing that they can do anything once their minds are set. 00:15:58 Dr. Prudence Layne (Associate Professor of English) and Dr. Jean Schwind (Chair of the English department) made a presentation to Lambert in honor of his tenure as Elon’s 8th President and gave a gift of books written by Elon English graduates. The books were given to Lambert in a basket. 00:19:25 Lambert received a Sigma Tau Delta award in promotion of the liberal arts, along with a Sigma Tau Delta Medallion. The medallion is placed around Lambert’s neck. Layne said, “Wear it (medallion) with pride.” 00:20:33 The 38th Sigma Tau Delta induction at Elon began with the students. 00:21:04 The inductees stood for the membership. The inductees repeated the Sigma Tau Delta pledge.