ALPHA KAPPA DELTA
AKD was founded in 1920 at the University of Southern California by Dr. Emory Bogardus, other sociology faculty, and fourteen graduate students. In the following year, Dr. Bogardus invited other sociology departments to establish chapters of Alpha Kappa Delta. Illinois College founded its own chapter, Nu, in 1987.
Goals and Purpose
The purpose of Alpha Kappa Delta is to promote human welfare through the association of a fellowship group interested in developing scientific knowledge that may be applied to the solution of social problems.
Alpha Kappa Delta derives its name from the first letters of the three Greek words, which are:
- "anthropon" (humankind)
- "katamanthanein" (to investigate thoroughly)
- and "diakonesein" (for the purpose of service).
Taken together, the society's goal is: to study humankind for the purpose of service.
Membership Requirements
For individuals to be eligible for membership in Alpha Kappa Delta, they must meet or exceed the following criteria:
- individuals shall be an officially declared sociology major or demonstrate a serious interest in sociology within an official program of the institution,
- individuals shall be at least a junior (3rd year) by the standards of the institution,
- individuals shall have accumulated the equivalent of an overall grade point average of 3.0 by a four point scale (A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0), and shall rank in the top 35% of their class in general scholarship,
- individuals shall have maintained the equivalent of a 3.0 grade point average in sociology courses taken at the institution prior to initiation, and
- individuals shall have completed at least 4 regular courses in sociology prior to initiation (exclusive of extension of course graded pass/fail).