Sigma Delta Mu, the City College Spanish honor society, has been promoting the Hispanic culture for over five years on campus.

The honor society encourages students to excel in Spanish, the most popular language of choice to study at City College. The society offers several activities to help students immerse themselves in the culture.

“It is really easy to give an A, but here we recognize students for what they have accomplished,” said honor society adviser Ana María Ygualt.

Students involved in Sigma Delta Mu participate in social events like a Spanish-speaking happy hour, which helps them practice the language in a fun and practical way with their peers.

“Students get together outside the classroom to chat in Spanish about certain topics assigned by their professors,” said Juan Casillas, chair of the School of Modern Languages, about the happy hour logistics.

Members encourage other students to learn about Spanish culture by bringing famous Spanish writers as guest speakers to campus.

One of the past events was a lecture and book signing offered by acclaimed novelist Gioconda Belli.

The society engages in several activities, including visiting museums and screening Spanish films.

Once a year, they get together on a trip to attend Feria del Libro en Español de Los Angeles (LéaLA), the national Spanish book fair in Los Angeles.

“Students get to appreciate the literature that is so rich,” Ygualt said. “Most of the time, book translations are not like the original.”

The selection of students is based on their GPA, which has to be at least 3.0 in both Spanish and general courses.

Participants also need at least one semester of Spanish completed at the college and be enrolled in a higher-level course.

Personalized attention from the Spanish faculty, encouragement to continue the study of Spanish and peer support from like-minded persons are among the benefits enjoyed by the members.

Following invitation, the society’s induction ceremony involves approximately 15 to 30 inductees and their families. Students receive a certificate for their membership and are offered a traditional Spanish dinner.

After being inducted, they move the society and help raise funds for events with faculty help.

“Sometimes students are so busy, that it is hard to be involved,” Ygualt said. “But we are still looking forward to develop the society and to promote leadership.”

Sigma Delta Mu encourages respect between Spanish speakers and helps honor students develop necessary communication and linguistic skills. The Hispanic populace is expected to surpass the number of whites in California by 2014, according to a story by the Huffington Post.

“[The society] helps students that have an interest of working in business or any kind of job involving trade with Latin America,” Ygualt said.