[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 41 (Thursday, April 2, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E585]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO EPSILON KAPPA

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. NYDIA M. VELAZQUEZ

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 1, 1998

  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Epsilon 
Kappa, St. John's University's Chapter of Sigma Delta Pi, the National 
Collegiate Hispanic Society which, for seventy-seven years has been 
promoting Hispanic culture and language in the United States. In light 
of the fact that we are honoring Hispanic heritage and culture, I am 
choosing to make this tribute in my native language Spanish.
  (Ms. VELAZQUEZ submitted two paragraphs in Spanish.)
  Successful organizations like this cannot promote themselves alone. 
They need the guidance and vision of talented leaders like Professor 
Marie-Lise Gazarian-Gautier, a renovated scholar in literature at St. 
John's University, Coordinator of the Graduate Spanish Program and 
Moderator of Epsilon Kappa, St. John's Chapter of Sigma Delta Pi. Dr. 
Gazarian is affiliated with universities in Paris-France, Moscow-
Russia, and Santiago the 1945 Chilean Nobel Prize Laureate. She is also 
author of several books, among them: ``Gabriela Mistral: La maestra de 
Elqui.'' In addition, she serves as Foreign Correspondent for several 
literary journals abroad and has hosted a nationwide series on 
``Contemporary Hispanic Fiction'' produced by WCBS-TV and St. John's 
Television Center. In 1996 she was appointed Judge of the Selection 
Committee for the Poet Laureate from Queens. She currently serves as 
Vice President for the Northeast of Sigma Delta Pi.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to rise with me today in honor of 
the seventy-seventh anniversary of Sigma Delta Pi and the invaluable 
contribution its chapters are making to our Hispanic Culture and 
society throughout the United States. We wish Sigma Delta Pi continued 
success and recognize St. John's University's Chapter, Epsilon Kappa, 
for its outstanding work in promoting Hispanic culture in America.

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