November 12, 2020
Eta Sigma Delta will soon close out a busy Fall '20 term
There was no slowing down honor society students in the School of Hospitality Leadership this fall.
Eta Sigma Delta (ESD), the Hospitality Management Honor Society, is in the process of completing this semester’s service project. Due to the pandemic, ECU classes have been held online and students are not all on campus. Therefore, ECU members are donating food to their local food bank. So far food items have been donated to the Food Bank of Eastern North Carolina, the Food bank of Western North Carolina, and the Salvation Army.
ESD Officers are Hailee Austin (President), Laura Weber (Vice President), and Toketa Greenfield (Secretary-Treasurer). Colby Sealey is an active member from last year and on October 14 ESD inducted 16 new members. They are Rhodra Anderson-Brown, Katie Beck, Brittany Buie, Miriam Caughron, Olivia Ciarrocchi, Hope Cooper, Bryant Culbreth, Victoria Dale, Faith Dickson, Ariel Jacobs, Jason McGee, Sydney Pons, Jordyn Rubio, Anna Verouden, Emily Willis, and Courtney Wyatt.
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- Rhodra Anderson-Brown
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- Sydney Pons
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- Miriam Caughron
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- Toketa Greenfield
Keeping busy, members of ESD participated in a Zoom meeting on November 6 with students from ESD chapters across the country. The students welcomed wo speakers from the hospitality industry and held a panel discussion about graduate school. Students listened to presentations by Gregg DeShields of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Don Gillette of Aparium Hotels.
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- Gregg DeShields
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- Don Gillette
SHL ESD members participated in a Zoom meeting on November 11 with students from ESD chapters across the country to discuss how to effectively address and incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) into the ESD organization and their own chapters. Ideas the students came up with included making DEI part of ESD’s mission and
embedding it within the organization. The students suggested having guest speakers talk about DEI, hosting DEI meet and greet sessions, having networking sessions connected to DEI, and perhaps most importantly, developing and completing a DEI certificate created and offered by ESD.
Hailee Austin
“When we talk about diversity we are not just talking about gender or race, but we are also talking about age, sexual orientation, culture, lifestyles, and much more,” said Hailee Austin, president, ESD. “Creating a more diverse organization and community is something we must take day by day, but we start by listening and learning from those around us.”
“I am very proud to be a part of this new chapter for ESD, and I look forward to implementing this new pillar into our organization.”