The Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures honored 58 students yesterday at their annual award ceremony in Jones Auditorium. 

Family and friends gathered in the back rows as students who were being honored found their seats in the front. The ceremony opened with words from department Chair Philippe Seminet who reiterated his excitement for the students and introduced the ceremony’s guest speaker, President Fuentes.

“I am so excited to celebrate all of you tonight,” Fuentes said. “You are our future.”

The students were honored for their outstanding achievements in a foreign language at St. Edward’s University, including Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, German, French and Spanish. Sophomore Oscar Cárdenas Muedano, who was honored for French, expressed his shock toward being selected.

“I see a lot of students work harder than I do,” Muedano said. “After coming to terms with it, it feels amazing to see the work I have put in to give fruits, even if it is just a paper with my name on it.”

Muendano said he worked to achieve this goal by coming to class, getting a good grasp on the language and applying it outside of the classroom. “I enjoyed doing so,” he said.

Students who showcased a 3.0 GPA or higher in two language courses were eligible to be inducted into Alpha Mu Gamma, a collegiate national foreign language honor society. Those involved with Alpha Mu Gamma at St. Edward’s are a part of the Xi Lambda chapter.

Overall, three Arabic students were honored, four Chinese and German students, two Japanese students, 14 French students and 31 Spanish students.