Annual French Honor Society induction celebrates students’ success en français

13 new members and two honorary members were inducted into the national French Honor Society, Pi Delta Phi.

“Avoir une autre langue, c’est posséder une deuxième âme – To have another language is to have a second soul.”

On May 6, the French section of the World Languages and Cultures Department inducted 13 new members and two honorary members into Pi Delta Phi, the national French Honor Society. Since the Lambda Omicron chapter’s founding at Elon in 1995, distinguished students of French have been invited annually to attend an induction ceremony celebrating their successes and making them members.

This year’s ceremony was led, in French, by co-presidents Annie Leeper ‘24 and Nina Paolucci ‘24 and Sophie Adamson, faculty advisor and associate professor of French. While invitees enjoyed their delicious dinners of poulet à la dijonnaise, petits pois et champignons de Paris, and courgettes et courges, the room was filled with enthusiastic French of all levels. The energy in the room was high as new and old friends and Francophiles conversed.

Following dinner, inductees and guests enjoyed a heartfelt keynote speech by Morgane Haesen, who was born and raised in French-speaking Belgium and currently works as an assistant professor of French at High Point University. She spoke about the role that the French language and Francophone cultures have played in her intercultural mindset and relationships, in addition to the opportunities French has created in her professional life. Inductees were then pinned and given their certificates and graduation tassels. After the ceremony, students, faculty, staff members, and guests stayed to take some photos and continue speaking in French. Although the French community at Elon is relatively small, this evening highlighted how strong and full of life it is!