Beorc Eh Thorn was a local honorary English society formed at [then] State Teachers College in 1935. The society was organized, according to their constitution, for the purpose of "promot[ing] among the membership the enjoyment and appreciation of literature, the cultivation of creative writing, the use of proper English, and the recognition of outstanding achievement in the field of English study." Beorc Eh Thorn also conducted monthly programs, based on an annual theme, that brought well-known authors, playwrights, poets, and scholars to the campus to speak to the student body. It was through the work of Beorc Eh Thorn, and early faculty sponsor Dr. James Grainger, that writers such as Ellen Glasgow, Vladimir Nabokov, Robert Frost, and Carl Sandburg were brought to Farmville to speak.