The annual induction ceremony of the Zeta Tau Chapter of the National Foreign Language Honor Society, Alpha Mu Gamma (AMT), was held on April 15vin the Studio for Languages and Cultures. The initiates of 2019 were Gabriela Betancourt, Javier Bracho, Jasmine Del Valle, Olena Drozd, Alexandra Kalinowski, Anel Ramirez, Sirena Register, and Felix Vega-Pagan.
The induction began with a warm welcome from faculty sponsor Dr. Beatriz Calvo-Peña, who then introduced her colleague Dr. Margarita Nodarse to give an inspirational Invocation. The initiation ceremony was performed by Dr. Lawrence Byrne, associate professor of English and a member of Alpha Mu Gamma himself for more than 20 years. In a room decorated with golden yellow flowers and filled with candles — as the Alpha Mu Gamma statutes require — students cheerfully walked to the podium one-by-one to receive their honorary cords, certificate of achievements, and Alpha Mu Gamma member emblems.
The guest speaker for the night was Dr. Yvette Fuentes, a Barry alumna and associate professor of Spanish at Nova South Eastern University. Fuentes, a member of the Zeta Tau Chapter since 1987, shared with the students and audience her inspiring experiences as a learner of languages and her wisdom about interacting with other cultures.
The ceremony finished up with the reading of “The Golden Bough,” a symbol of enlightenment, friendship, and sympathetic understanding of other peoples by the new Alpha Mu Gamma members. The ceremony then proceeded into a reception with delicious food and international music for students and their guests.
As well as celebrating students who excelled in the study of foreign languages, the Zeta Tau Chapter had a special celebration that night: 50 years of existence since its inception at Barry University in March 1969. Since then, the chapter has inducted more than 400 members, along with whom the new members had the privilege to sign their names in the official members’ book.
For more information about Alpha Mu Gamma, visit their website at www.amgnational.org/ or contact Dr. Calvo-Peña at bcalvo-pena@barry.edu.