Rebecca Teachey, of Amherst, Va., was inducted May 8 into Sigma Beta Delta, an international honor society for business, management and administration students. To qualify for membership, students must be in the top 20 percent of their class.

Rebecca TeacheyTeachey graduated from Sweet Briar College on May 12 with bachelor’s degrees in business management and English and creative writing. She was the College’s first Sigma Beta Delta inductee.

The first chapters of the Sigma Beta Delta were established in 1994. The Sweet Briar chapter was installed on May 3. Other eligible students will be inducted in the fall, but faculty representatives wanted Teachey to be able to wear her green and yellow “honor cords” at Commencement.

“We’re going to induct her in [a] special ceremony today so that she can wear her honor cords and be an official member,” chapter president and business professor Linda Shank said during a brief ceremony held on the College Quad.

It was Teachey’s idea two years ago to start a chapter at Sweet Briar. “The econ[omics] department had started an honor society and I thought that the business department should have one, too,” she said.

“So I went online and researched all of the honor societies and tried to pick which one we could actually join, and narrowed it down to a couple. We selected Sigma Beta Delta and contacted them, and we started the paperwork and the petition, and processed it this spring.”

While at Sweet Briar, Teachey also was the accountant in the student business office. Her post-graduation plans include marriage and a career in accounting. She also plans to pursue an MBA with a concentration in financial management.

— By Suzanne Ramsey, SBC staff writer