Alpha Kappa Delta

Alpha Kappa Delta (ΑΚΔ) is an International Honor Society of Sociology. Alpha Kappa Delta is a non-secret, democratic organization founded in 1920 by Dr. Emory S. Bogardus. It is dedicated to encouraging and stimulating scholarship while promoting the scientific study and advancement of sociology. Throughout the past eight decades, Alpha Kappa Delta has grown to over 80,000 scholars and now has more than 490 chapters established around the world.

In 1915, Emory S. Bogardus formed one of the earliest sociological departments in the U.S. at the University of Southern California. He decided a sociological society needed to be created to meet the needs of students and faculty for discussing ongoing sociological projects. With the help of fourteen graduate students and other members of the sociology department. Dr. Bogardus officially formed Alpha Kappa Delta on November 21, 1920. Also, within this year, the symbol of Alpha Kappa Delta was designed by Dr. Melvin J. Vincent. While other sociological clubs were formed around this time, AKD was the first to limit membership to only those with a serious interest in sociology and pursuing superior scholarships.

Alpha Kappa Delta’s name originated from the first letters of three Greek words:

These words embody the sociological mission of AKD; to thoroughly study humankind for the purpose of service.

In 1921, Bogardus contacted a select group of universities around the country, inviting them to form similar organizations. Three schools responded by creating their own AKD chapters; the University of Wisconsin, Northwestern University, and the University of Kansas. These three schools, along with the University of Southern California, became the United Chapters of Alpha Kappa Delta in 1924.

Currently, Alpha Kappa Delta continues to keep its members, along with the any interested person of the public, updated with information about events and other interesting information by means of the official Alpha Kappa Delta Facebook page.

As the root of Alpha Kappa Delta’s name suggests, its primary goal is to advance social research for the purpose of service. The original aim of the group was to address a need for students and faculty to share current or completed research projects pertaining to sociology. Once the first chapter was formed by Dr. Bogardus, the organization worked to actively expand to other universities and on an international scale. Two main goals guide the actions of AKD. First, they work to acknowledge and promote academic excellence in the field of sociology. Second, knowledge gained from social research is used to help others and improve society. They do this by sponsoring competitions and scholarships and promoting exemplary work in the field. They also allocate funds for research symposia and educational endeavors.