Omicron Delta Kappa
| Omicron Delta Kappa | |
|---|---|
| ΟΔΚ | |
 |
|
| Founded | December 3, 1914 Washington and Lee University |
| Type | Honor society |
| Emphasis | Scholarship, Leadership, and Service |
| Mission statement | Recognize individuals who consistently achieve high standards of excellence. |
| Vision statement | Campus leaders today, community leaders tomorrow. |
| Motto | "Success Achieved in Worthy Undertakings" |
| Colors | Sky Blue, White, Black |
| Symbol | A Laurel with Stars |
| Flower | Blue delphinium |
| Publication | The Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa |
| Chapters | 300+ active; 399 chartered |
| Members | 325,000+ lifetime |
| Headquarters |
224 McLaughlin Street Lexington, Virginia United States |
| Homepage | www |
Omicron Delta Kappa (ΟΔΚ), also known as The Circle and ODK, is a national leadership honor society in the United States, with chapters, known as circles, at more than three hundred college campuses. It was founded December 3, 1914, at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, by fifteen student and faculty leaders. The society recognizes achievement in five areas: scholarship; athletics; campus and community service, social or religious activities, and campus government; journalism, speech and the mass media; and creative and performing arts. Some circles of ΟΔΚ are quasi-secret, in that newly selected members remain undisclosed for some time.
Membership in the Omicron Delta Kappa Society is regarded as one of the highest collegiate honors that can be awarded, in the tradition of Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Beta Kappa. To be selected as a member of ΟΔΚ, one must stand among the top thirty-five percent of all students at that particular institution and hold a leadership role in one of the society's five areas of recognition.
On the evening of December 3, 1914, the Omicron Delta Kappa Society was founded by fifteen men who gathered in a small office on the third floor of Reid Hall on the campus of Washington and Lee University. J. Carl Fisher first introduced the idea of creating such a society to a close friend, Rupert Latture. The two soon included mutual friend William Brown in the discussion, and thus these three are referred to as the principal founders of the society. Together with three faculty members, including the president of the University and the dean of Engineering, they gradually selected nine others to join them. The complete list of the fifteen founders is as follows.
All fifteen men were prominent leaders on campus, and they rallied around the idea that all-around leadership in college should be recognized, that representative men in all phases of college life should cooperate in worthwhile endeavor, and that outstanding students and faculty should affiliate in the spirit of mutual interest and understanding. The founders intended that ΟΔΚ not be yet another society in which members would simply earn a societal Key and then be done. Members of ΟΔΚ would remain active as leaders, in upholding spiritual and moral values, and in rendering service to the campus and community.
The founders decided that The Circle would be kept a complete secret until keys could be designed and produced. The keys arrived shortly past the winter holiday, and each man first wore his key on the 15th of January in 1915. The student newspaper broke the news that same day of a new society to be known as "The Circle," with the secret significance of its three Greek letters known only to its members.
...
Wikipedia