Omicron Delta Kappa

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The Omicron Delta Kappa Society ΟΔΚ Nickname: ODK The ΟΔΚ Key Founded: December 3, 1914 at Washington and Lee University Founders: James Carl Fisher Rupert Nelson Latture William Mosely Brown Members: 280,000 Circles: 310 Official Colors: Sky Blue, White, & Black Official Flower: The Blue Delphinium National President: Steve Bisese Executive Director: John D. Morgan Headquarters: Lexington, Kentucky Address: Transylvania University 300 North Broadway Lexington, KY 40508 Omicron Delta Kappa Website

Omicron Delta Kappa, or OΔK, is a national leadership honor society. It was founded December 3, 1914 at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia by 15 student and faculty leaders. Chapters, known as Circles, are located on over 300 college campuses. The society recognizes achievement in the five areas of scholarship; athletics; campus/ community service, social/religious activities, and campus government; journalism, speech and the mass media; and creative and performing arts. Membership in the Omicron Delta Kappa Society is regarded as one of the highest collegiate honors that can be awarded to an individual, along with Phi Beta Kappa.

[edit] History

There were three principal founders of Omicron Delta Kappa: J. Carl Fisher, who was Business Manager of the student magazine; Rupert Nelson Latture, President of the YMCA and member of Delta Upsilon and Phi Beta Kappa; and, William Mosely Brown, member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and Phi Beta Kappa. Together with three faculty members, including the President of the University and the Dean of Engineering, these men gradually selected nine additional men to affiliate with them. When there were fifteen members, the first public announcement of the establishment of Omicron Delta Kappa was made in the student newspaper on January 12, 1915.

[edit] Women in ODK

Membership in Omicron Delta Kappa was restricted to men only during the first sixty years of the society. At the 1970 and 1972 National Conventions, the University of Alabama Circle introduced an amendment to the National Constitution to admit women into the Society. In June 1972, Title IX of the "Education Amendments Act of 1972" prohibited sex discrimination in federally assisted educational programs and amended parts of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Professional and honor fraternities were included in Title IX. The Special Committee on the Possible Role of Women met in January 1973 and recommended changes to the National Constitution that would abolish segregation based on gender within the Society. On March 12, 1974. the National Convention convened in New Orleans and approved the initiation of women into the Society. On that date, the first women members were recognized by the Society. They were: The Johns Hopkins University Circle-Carolyn Julia Kucinski and Diane Christine Ragosa; University of South Florida Circle - Robbie Lynn Cooney, Maria Dolores Delvalle. Roxane R. Dow. Catherine Ann Rohrbacher. Karen Diane Janzer, Linda Ann Touten, Martha Gwyn Van Deman, and Cathy Sue Welch. Prior to the change, women were tapped by a similar society for women known as Mortar Board.

Cheryl M. Hogle was elected as the first woman National President at the Convention in Knoxville, Tennessee on February 25. 1998. After serving four terms as a Faculty Province Director and two terms as National Vice President for Extension, she was elected by unanimous vote of the Convention.

On March 22, 1992, the National Convention passed a resolution authorizing the incorporation of the Society. On July 1, 1992, the Omicron Delta Kappa Society was merged into the corporation, The Omicron Delta Kappa Society, Inc.

[edit] Purpose of the Society

The Purpose of the Society is threefold:

• First, to recognize those who have attained a high standard of efficiency in collegiate activities and to inspire others to strive for conspicuous attainments along similar lines;

• Second, to bring together the most representative students in all phases of collegiate life and thus to create an organization which will help to mold the sentiment of the institution on questions of local and intercollegiate interest;

• Third, to bring together members of the faculty and student body of the institution, as well as other Omicron Delta Kappa members, on a basis of mutual interest and understanding.

[edit] Membership Selection

To be eligible for membership in OΔΚ, an individual must obtain at least junior or senior academic standing. Unlike Phi Beta Kappa, which limits membership to the liberal arts & sciences, ΟΔΚ is open to students of all areas of study, but they must exhibit outstanding leadership distinction in the five areas of scholarship; athletics; campus/community service, social/religious activities, and campus government; journalism, speech and the mass media; and creative and performing arts. Members may be chosen either annually or semi-annually depending on the traditions of the individual Circles. The number of students selected each year is limited to, at the most, less than 3% of the total undergraduate population, but most Circles limit membership to less than the top one quarter of one percent of students on their respective campuses.

Unlike most college honor societies that accept all potential members who meet the selection criteria and pay the required fees, ΟΔΚ only chooses a very select group from a pool of potential and qualified students through a process known as tapping. Once a Circle votes on the individuals to be tapped for membership, the selection is kept secret from all except for those who have been chosen for initiation. The chosen candidates must also keep their selection secret until such time when their selection is revealed to the campus and community in a public ceremony. At some institutions, such as the University of Missouri-Columbia, this ceremony is combined with those of other highly selective or secret societies to become a large annual Tap Day ceremony on campus.

[edit] Circles

The practice of designating Circles with Greek letter names was abandoned in 1949.

1. Alpha - Washington and Lee University - 1914
2. Beta - The Johns Hopkins University - 1916
3. Gamma - University of Pittsburgh - 1916
4. Delta - Davidson College - 1917
5. Epsilon - University of Richmond - 1921
6. Zeta - College of William and Mary - 1921
7. Eta - Centre College - 1921
8. Theta - University of Akron - 1922
9. Iota - University of Alabama - 1924
10. Kappa - Birmingham-Southern College - 1924
11. Lambda - Hampden-Sydney College - 1924
12. Mu - Emory University - 1925
13. Nu - University of Kentucky - 1925
14. Xi - Lehigh University - 1925 (charter withdrawn)
15. Omicron - University of Virginia - 1925
16. Pi - Millsaps College - 1926
17. Rho - Duke University - 1926 (charter withdrawn)
18. Sigma - University of Maryland - 1927
19. Tau - Ohio Wesleyan University - 1927
20. Upsilon - Dickinson College - 1927
21. Phi - Rhodes College - 1927
22. Chi - University of South Carolina - 1927
23. Psi - Allegheny College - 1928
24. Omega - Auburn University - 1928
25. Alpha Alpha - University of the South - 1929
26. Alpha Delta - George Washington University - 1929
27. Alpha Epsilon - Muhlenberg College - 1930
28. Alpha Eta - Georgia Institute of Technology - 1930
29. Alpha Zeta - Tulane University - 1930
30. Alpha Theta - University of Cincinnati - 1931
31. Alpha Iota - Rollins College - 1931
32. Alpha Kappa - Washington University - 1933
33. Alpha Lambda - Randolph-Macon College - 1933
34. Alpha Mu - Denison University - 1933
35. Alpha Beta - Drake University - 1933
36. Alpha Nu - Louisiana State University - 1933
37. Alpha Xi - University of Missouri-Columbia - 1933
38. Alpha Omicron - Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University - 1933
39. Alpha Pi - University of Denver - 1934
40. Alpha Rho - Vanderbilt University - 1934
41. Alpha Sigma - Miami University - 1934 (charter withdrawn)
42. Alpha Tau - Westminster College - 1935
43. Alpha Upsilon - University of Georgia - 1935
44. Alpha Phi - University of Mississippi - 1936
45. Alpha Chi - Mississippi State University - 1937
46. Alpha Psi - Washington College - 1937
47. Alpha Omega - American University - 1938 (charter withdrawn)
48. Beta Alpha - Wake Forest University - 1939
49. Beta Beta - University of Arkansas - 1939 (charter withdrawn)
50. Beta Gamma - Albion College - 1942
51. Beta Delta - Carnegie-Mellon University - 1942 (charter withdrawn)
52. Beta Epsilon - University of Louisville - 1943
53. Bucknell University - 1946 (charter withdrawn)
54. Beta Eta - Wayne State University - 1946 (charter withdrawn)
55. Beta Theta - Case Western Reserve - 1947 (charter withdrawn)
56. Beta Iota - University of Iowa - 1947
57. University of Kansas - 1947
58. Beta Lambda - Marshall University - 1947
59. Beta Mu - Grove City College - 1947
60. Beta Nu - University of Tennessee - 1947
61. Beta Xi - Beloit College - 1948 (charter withdrawn)
62. Beta Omicron - Louisiana Tech University - 1949
63. Beta Pi - Centenary College - 1949
64. Beta Rho - Hillsdale College - 1949
65. Beta Sigma - University of Delaware - 1949
66. Bowling Green State University - 1949
67. Beta Upsilon - University of Miami - 1949
68. Bradley University - 1949
69. New Jersey Institute of Technology - 1950
70. Drury University - 1950
71. Florida State University - 1950
72. University of Nebraska at Omaha - 1950
73. Marietta College - 1950

• Wittenberg University - 1976
• University of Maryland, Baltimore County - 1981

[edit] Famous members

[edit] Tapped for student membership

• Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr. - Washington and Lee University, 1928
• Dean Rusk - Davidson College, 1930
• Clay Foster Lee, Jr. - Millsaps College
• Barry Chapman Bishop - University of Cincinnati, 1953
• Donald Evans - University of Texas at Austin, 1971
• Gordon R. England - Maryland College Park, 1963
• Robert Jepson, Jr. - University of Richmond, 1963
• Dan Carmichael - Emory University, 1967
• Kenneth L. Lay - University of Houston
• Kenneth P. Ruscio - Washington and Lee University, 1975
• Sheryl Crow - University of Missouri-Columbia, 1983
• Peyton Manning - University of Tennessee, 1997

[edit] Tapped for honorary membership

• Franklin D. Roosevelt - University of Maryland, 1940
• Hodding Carter - University of the South, 1953
• Jonas E. Salk - University of Pittsburgh,1954
• Wernher von Braun - Grove City College, 1961
• Joseph I. Goldstein - Washington and Lee University, 1961
• Bob Hope - Tulane University, 1964
• James E. Carter - Georgia State University, 1972
• Walter Cronkite - Florida Southern College, 1979
• Walter Mondale - University of South Carolina, 1981
• Gerald R. Ford - Florida Southern College, 1984
• F. Story Musgrave - University of Kentucky, 1984
• Winston S. Churchill III - Florida Southern College, 1990
• Margaret Thatcher - Harding University, 1995
• George H. W. Bush - Harding University, 1997
• Hillary Rodham Clinton - Alfred University, 2000