Are you a student of Spanish at NOVA looking for extra support or assistance to help you excel in your class? The ESL & Language Center at the Annandale Campus can help! Their tutors are available for free weekly 50-minute sessions per week. Visit https://blogs.nvcc.edu/an-academicsupportcenters/language-center/ to learn more.

On December 18, 2020, NOVA’s chapter of la Sociedad Honoraria de la Lengua Española (SHLE) was founded in a virtual ceremony attended by SHLE Executive Director Dr. Mark Del Mastro, students, faculty, administrators and guests. The founding active members (Maram Baider, Dana Graham and Allen de Meneses Medeiros) and founding honorary members (Dr. Martha Davis, Prof. Shonette Grant, Dr. Nakul Kumar, Dr. Jimmie McClellan and Dr. Dali Tan) were also inducted.

SHLE is a program of Sigma Delta Pi, the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society, which was founded in 1919 by Ruth Barnes, an undergraduate junior at the University of California, Berkeley. Sigma Delta Pi is the largest world language honor society and has more than 615 chapters at four-year colleges and universities nationwide. The first chapter of SHLE, which recognizes outstanding students of Spanish at community colleges, was founded at Coastal Bend College (TX) on November 9, 2017. SHLE has since expanded to include 12 chapters nationwide. NOVA’ s chapter was the first to be founded in Virginia.

The Mission of the SHLE is to:

1. Recognize students in community colleges who excel in the study of the Spanish language and Hispanic culture.
2. Recognize those who have made the Hispanic contributions to modern culture better known in the English-speaking world.
3. Encourage students to acquire a greater interest in and a deeper understanding of Hispanic culture.
4. Build and advocate friendship and mutual respect between the nations of Hispanic speech and those of English speech.
5. Serve its membership in ways that will contribute to the attainment of the goals and ideals of the society.

Applicants for active membership must have a 3.0 grade point average in Spanish classes and a 3.2 cumulative grade point average. Individuals whose professional activities notably reflect the goals and ideals of this honorary society may apply or be nominated for an honorary membership. The one-time membership fee is $15.

Please contact the SHLE advisor Dr. Martha E. Davis at mdavis@nvcc.edu for information about joining NOVA’s chapter of the Sociedad Honoraria de la Lengua Española.

For more information about the national organization and benefits of membership, including summer scholarships to Spain, visit https://sociedadhonoraria.org/.