Active Membership

Active membership shall be limited to college students who have demonstrated high scholarship in general and excellence in the academic study of Spanish. Specifically, they must meet the following requirements:

  1. Each must have completed three years of study of college-level Spanish (eighteen semester credit hours) or the equivalent thereof, including at least three semester hours of a course in Hispanic literature or Hispanic culture and civilization at the junior (third-year) level. A student may be admitted to active membership while still enrolled in the second junior-level course if all other requirements have been met and if the instructor of the course certifies that the student's work is of "B" or "A" quality.
  2. The candidate for active membership must have a minimal grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 point scale in all Spanish courses taken.
  3. The candidate must rank in the upper 35% of his/her class--sophomore, junior, or senior--and must have completed at least three semesters or five quarters of college work.
  4. Graduate students who have been unconditionally admitted to a degree-granting program may be elected to membership upon completion of two graduate courses in Spanish with an average which, if continued, will make them eligible for a graduate degree.
  5. Sigma Delta Pi does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, sex, age, or disability.

Membership Dues

For each member initiated into Sigma Delta Pi, the chapter into which he/she is initiated shall pay a specified membership fee to the society. This fee provides for lifetime membership, a membership certificate, and the society insignia in the form of a pin. The payment of the fee applies to all kinds of membership: active or honorary. Alumnus members have already paid the fee and are not required to pay again when they affiliate with a local chapter. The membership fee is normally paid by the new initiates themselves, and all fees must be sent to the Executive Secretary-Treasurer before the candidates are initiated. The fee may be changed upon recommendation of the Executive Council, subject to approval at the next triennial convention or by means of a convention by mail. Chapters will be notified well in advance of the effective date of any change.

Local Dues

Each chapter shall determine the amount of local dues, if any. The society recommends very modest fees of this sort and urges chapters to engage in other types of fund-raising activities to build a local treasury.