Besides following French traditions, such as sticking paper fishes on people’s back for April Fool’s day, the French Honor Society at Loyola is also seeking to raise funds to build a school in Haiti.

Under the leadership of new President Yvonne Cappel-Vickery, Loyola’s Theta Tau chapter was recently reactivated, and their first event was “Poisson d’Avril,” the French April Fool’s day tradition that they shared with the Loyola community.

Cappel-Vickery, French and mass communication junior, explained that their next plan is meant to support Haitians through their difficult time, and to help revive French culture in America.

“Just going through one hurricane was so difficult for me, I just want to help these kids,” Cappel-Vickery said. “We’d also be encouraging education about the French culture and language.”

French sophomore and member Cheyenne Buchanan said she agrees that raising funds for the school in Haiti is an important project.

“Focus has shifted to Japan recently, but Haiti is a much poorer country, and we want to bring awareness to that they still need help,” Buchanan said.

Although only students who major or minor in French can become members of the honor society, current members, including Buchanan, want to encourage other students to join in their activities.

“We want to have fundraising events, such as raffling tickets to a French restaurant and other things,” Buchanan said. “We definitely wouldn’t say no to anyone that wanted to join.”

Cassandra Mabe, co-founder and associate professor of languages and cultures, explained that as members, students do have access to more benefits.

“The Council for the Development of French in Louisiana offers prestigious awards such as the James Domengeaux scholarship, which covers a year following graduation for a master’s degree in France,” Mabe said. “We’ve had two students who have received that.”

Mabe explained that only members are eligible for such scholarships, but the current members want to include other students who would like to help raise funds for causes like the school in Haiti.

Cappel-Vickery explained that through all these projects, they will be able to educate about the French culture, especially the one present in Louisiana.

“Our French history surrounds us every second of the day, but we’re mostly not aware of that,” Cappel-Vickery said. “I’m very passionate about this and what we could do.”

Vannia Zelaya can be reached at [email protected]